Unbroken
by M14.99
Summary: In this AU, the vampires are like the TVD vampires, but can have children, and have red eyes. M was kidnapped by the Original vampires and taken to a prison run by them. There she meets Damon, who may have a past unknown to them both. What happens when that past comes back to haunt them? Will their friendship survive their changing world? Or will it crumble? ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Prologue:

"We can't keep them both." She began to cry.

"I can't give up my son and keep my daughter! I want them both!" But the man just shook his head.

"The boy is more human than vampire. While she is half human half vampire, he's three quarters human. He'll grow at a normal rate and have human blood in his veins."

The woman began to sob even harder. "We can control ourselves! We won't hurt him!"

But the man continued to shake his head. "We can't risk it. Maybe when he's older. Maybe then we can see him."

Reluctantly, the woman nodded. "At least let me name him." She whispered.

"Of course." The man agreed, throat thick from the sorrow of having to give up his son. The woman leaned down to kiss her son's forehead.

"Damon." She whispered.


	2. Chapter One

12 years later

Chapter 1

"Wake up! Genevieve hurry, they brought in someone new. A girl. She's around eleven years old."

"How long ago? How's her condition?" The woman, Genevieve, asked.

"She's pretty beat up. Came in around 1 o'clock. "

"Okay. Lead me to her."

"She's right over here. Careful, she has a broken arm."

"Okay thanks. Not much we can do for her, since she's unconscious and there isn't the proper medical equipment." Genevieve said, and placed a hand on the girl's forehead. "What's her name?" She looked at the other woman.

"I don't know."

"Does she have any clothes? Maybe her name's written on the tag."

"Um…yes, here's her coat. You can't see much, only one letter."

"What letter?"

"'M'"

"Hmm okay." Genevieve leaned toward the little girl. "Welcome to the family M."

* * *

"Mom?" A boy asked. Genevieve turned towards the child, her face breaking into a smile.

"Hey sweetheart. I'm just in here with a new patient."

"What happened?" The young boy asked, touching the girl's arm carefully. Genevieve turned towards him and bent down, looking him straight in the eyes.

"They brought her in last night. She has lost a lot of blood and is beaten pretty badly." Genevieve said in a grave tone. The boy nodded wisely, he understood everything, mature for his age.

"What's her name?" He asked, looking at the girl, then his mother.

"We don't know. For now, we're calling her M."

"Okay." The boy said simply. He turned towards the girl's head and cupped his hand over her ear, leaning in to whisper. "Hi M. My name's Damon."

* * *

Genevieve looked at the girl, and tried to figure out what was causing her to stay unconscious. She looked up when another woman entered and smiled.

"Hey. How is it out there?" Genevieve asked the woman.

"Pretty much the same. Awful and gross." The woman answered, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well that's good…I guess."

"Yeah I guess. How's M?"

"She's good. I'm worried though. There's no visible reason for her to stay unconscious and she still reacts to pain." Genevieve said, pinching the girl's ear lightly. The girl flinched ever so slightly, an invisible movement if you didn't know to look for it. "See? It's weird. It's not a proper coma, or she wouldn't react at all."

"Huh. Well then there's hope that she'll wake up."

"That's true. It's just weird. It's like her brain is active and can pick up on stuff, but her body's unresponsive. Not completely unresponsive however, like a normal coma."

"Maybe it's a survival mechanism?"

"Maybe, but she won't survive long without food and water."

Just then, the lights began to flicker and Genevieve noticed that the water in the glass was shaking. Suddenly, M began to whimper and her body started to convulse. Genevieve ran over to her, curious as to why she was suddenly moving. Before she got to her however, the floor began to shake and things started to fall off the shelves, breaking. Genevieve crawled under the table, putting her hands over her head for protection. She was under the table for a long time, until all of a sudden, the shaking stopped. She slowly took her hands away from her head, but stayed bent under the table. Then she heard a gasp from above.

* * *

Pain. That was all she could feel. That was all she could think about. The pain and the burning was everywhere, all around her body, coursing through her blood stream and scorching her heart, her brain, kept her immobile. She heard someone talk to her, called her something, M. She smiled inside despite the misery, happy with the new name that she was given. Short and sweet, just one letter, a new name for a new life. She heard someone whisper in her ear and they said her name. She smiled again, smiled at the beautiful voice that eased the agony, for just that moment. Then she heard another voice, one that she had heard quite often since the burning had started. It was worried, however, it wanted her to wake up and suddenly, she wanted to too. She wanted it so bad, to see the faces that matched the voices she had heard. She used all her strength to wake up, to open her eyes. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and energy coursed through her, energy that was even strong enough to keep the burning at bay. Like she was lifting iron curtains, she slowly opened her eyes. And gasped.

* * *

She looked around the room, taking in the new sights. Bright, too bright. She squinted at the light, unaccustomed after being asleep for so long. Someone gasped, and she looked towards the woman. The woman had blonde hair and warm, blue eyes, a kind face, full of love. The woman was crawling out from under the table and began to walk towards her, a curious look on her face.

"M?" The woman asked. She recognized that voice, and she recognized her name. The woman was as beautiful as she had imagined, perfectly matched her melodious voice. M smiled at the woman and nodded. "Can you speak?" The woman asked her. What a funny question to ask, of course she could speak. She looked at the woman inquiringly and opened her mouth.

"Yes I can." She said, her voice came out in a hoarse whisper. The woman smiled at her again which caused M to wonder how her face didn't hurt. "What's your name?"

"My name is Genevieve. What is your name?" The woman, now Genevieve, said. She shook her head.

"M. My name is M." She said. The woman frowned and looked at her.

"Well, that's not quite what I meant. What's your real name? What does M stand for?"

"My old self," She said, "my name's M. Just M."

* * *

She was sitting on the table by herself; Genevieve went out to get food, when a young boy walked in. He had dark brown hair, alabaster skin and startling, bright green eyes.

"Your awake! Do you remember me?" He asked. She cocked an eyebrow, and when she remembered his name, she smiled.

"Yes Damon. Of course."

He smiled back at her and even then, his smile sent shivers down her spine.

"How old are you?" Damon asked her.

"Eleven. How old are you?" M asked him, sizing him up. He looked at her and seemed to do the same.

"You don't seem eleven. You sound older." Damon responded and scrunched up his eyebrows. M shrugged and grunted noncommittally.

"People say I'm mature for my age. How old are you?" M asked again, and raised her eyebrows with a challenging look on her face.

"I'm twelve. Just turned twelve actually." He said, and sat up straighter, tilting his head as if to look down his nose at her. M rolled her eyes.

"Look at you, all high and mighty." She said, and sneered at him. Damon grinned impishly back at her. "You don't seem eleven, you seem older too." M raised her eyebrows. Damon smirked imperiously, and smoothed out his pants.

"Yeah," He said coolly, "I'm mature for my age. What does M stand for?"

"Nothing. It's my old name." She said, and looked away, out the window. Damon touched her hand and she looked back at him.

"Will you tell me your real name and where you came from when we're friends?"

"If you tell me what your story is."

"Deal." Damon said and grabbed her hand. She squeezed his hand back and smiled at him.

"Deal."


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2

1 year later

M opened the door and walked into Damon's room, sitting down on his bed. She didn't live with Damon and Genevieve; she lived with other orphans that the vampires kidnapped. They only had one room, housing seven other children, aging from 2 to 8, which made her the oldest. M still got to see Damon, but they only ever hung out together in private, either in her room or Damon's. The other humans here were still suspicious of her, so Damon wasn't too keen on being seen with her. Although that hurt her a little, she was close to Damon, they were best friends.

She still had nightmares of the night her family died. Sometimes the pain and grief was so bad she didn't want to get up in the morning. But she did, no matter how much it hurt her to do so. Although life wasn't great, she could bear it, she had Damon to help her through it. They had each other.

"Are we friends now?" M asked, and looked over at Damon.

"I guess so."

"Okay." M said, and smiled at him. She raised her eyebrows, knowing full well that Damon knew what she was asking.

"Okay," Damon said, getting up and walked to his window. They were in his room, well what was considered his room. She didn't mind the size, big enough for a bed but that was pretty much it. "My father's name was Giuseppe." She looked back at him curiously.

"You have a father?" She asked incredulously.

"Duh. How else would I be here?" Damon said, and flashed M his crooked grin. No longer dazzled by his smile, she sneered at him,

"Keep going, now you got my interest." Damon smirked at her.

"Well anyways, I wasn't born here," Damon said, getting serious. "I was born into a different family then the one I grew up in. I was adopted by someone else when I was about 7 months. But I considered my adoptive parents my real parents, since I never knew my birth parents. I adored my mother, and my father, I idolized him. He was what I wanted to be. When I was 1, my brother, Stefan was born (I know that isn't right, but this way Stefan will be M's age). I loved him, we were really close. Out of my whole family, he was my favourite." Damon smiled nostalgically.

"But that all went to hell when my mother died." Damon bit his lip. "She died of cancer (A/N I changed TB, it's pretty uncommon now in North America) when I was 5. My father changed." Damon clenched his jaw. "That was when my dad became abusive, hitting me and my brother, Stefan. I tried to take most of the abuse, but my father still managed to hurt Stefan. When I was kidnapped, I'm pretty sure my father didn't care." He laughed a short, bitter laugh, unfitting for a child so young. M looked at him worriedly, but he didn't seem to notice, too caught up in his story. "I was taken when I was 6. They came in at night, taking me from my bed. Thankfully, they left Stefan unharmed. I know my father didn't care about it. I just hope Stefan had a good life. That he managed to move on. That he forgot about me."

"What makes you think that he doesn't remember you? That he still loves you?" M said fiercely.

"Because." Damon said. "I can't hold on to any hope. It's not worth the pain." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Damon smiled at her "Your turn."

She sighed dramatically before plopping down onto the bed.

"As you know, I wasn't born here." M said gravely, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I lived with my parents, my older brother and my little sister. One day, we went to the carnival and…" She swallowed thickly, grabbing her legs tighter. "…and they were there. They were too beautiful, not human. I noticed but my family did not. They followed us out to our car. I never saw them following, but I could feel it." She gulped, clutching her bracelet. Damon moved to touch her, but she flinched away.

"Our car broke down on a country road. It was dark and cold and my sister was crying." M said and began to shake, clenching and unclenching her fists. She backed up into the corner, eyes glazed with memories. "I remember looking at my brother, but he was staring at something in front of him. That was the last time I saw him." She started to cry, big, ugly wails. Damon grabbed her arms and pulled her towards him. He hugged her tightly.

"You don't have to continue." He whispered soothingly. M shook her head.

"No. No I have too." She said, and wiped away her tears. "We heard him scream. That was when my parents knew something was wrong. They attacked. Grabbed both my parents, killed them and my brother right in front of me and my sister. The-then they took me." She started to gasp; her breathing getting shallower and panicked.

"I remember seeing my sister as they ran with me. She was sitting in the dirt, bawling, crying for me to come back. I was crying too, telling her that it'll be okay. That I will come back for her." She cried, clutching her knees, and tears streamed down her face. "I don't remember much after that just… a lot of crying, and pain."

"It's okay. You're okay now." Damon said and hugged her even tighter. Tears continued to stream down her face.

"My name," She said hoarsely. "It's Mia."

"I like it." Damon replied and hugged her closer. They sat like that until her sobs died down, and they both fell asleep, the pain and sorrow washed away by dreams.

* * *

"Damon!" She cried out, reaching for him.

"It's okay, you'll be fine, they're just going to stick a needle in and take some blood."

"Why do they take more from me?"

"I don't know." Damon shrugged. He held her hand tightly, as the needle went in. He looked away as the blood went up the tube and into the bag, the red liquid swirling around. They took the needle out of her arm and walked out with the blood. M's head flopped to the side, the blood loss causing fatigue. Her eyelids fluttered and she looked at him.

"Why do they take so much Damon?" M whimpered.

"The leader likes the taste of your blood." Damon answered, and shrugged his shoulders. "You're his favourite." She knew who the leader was. His name was Klaus and was the most powerful vampire. He and his siblings couldn't be killed by any normal stakes, making them the most feared vamps out there.

"Why don't they take blood from you?" She asked, crossing her arms. Damon smirked at her.

"They don't like the taste of my blood."

"Lucky you."

"I guess so." Damon murmured, glancing down at her wrist where blood still leaked out. He gulped and looked away, he was squeamish around blood. "Are you okay?"

M nodded. This was her first time getting blood taken from her. They gave her a year to rest, let her grow healthier, which made her tastier. She screwed her eyes shut, nausea clouding her throat.

"Yeah. I'm Fine. I'm Fine." She said. Repulsion fogged her voice, leaking into her words. Damon frowned at her.

"it's okay if you aren't."

"Just promise you'll never leave me, that you'll always be there for me." She said, looking seriously at him.

"If you promise that you'll be there for me too. That you'll never leave." He answered.

"Of course. I promise." She said and grabbed his hand. He squeezed her hand back and smiled at her.

"Well, then I promise too."


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter 3

2 years later: M is 13 and Damon is 14, Elena and Bonnie are 16

M sat down on the chair, and opened the book that was in her hands. Genevieve gave it to her, an old book that the woman had found lying around in one of the rooms in this prison. She opened it but could not focus; her thoughts making her mind wander.

Lately, she has been thinking a lot about Damon. He was there for her, whenever she woke up, terrified and grief-stricken about her family; he would comfort her and let her sleep in the room with him and Genevieve. It happened more often than not. And M would help Damon, on the rare occasions that he was haunted by the memory of Stefan and his dad.

They had grown really close since meeting each other 2 years ago, however, only behind closed doors. Once they were in the public eye, Damon distanced himself, not talking to her or acknowledging that he was her friend. She understood why, she knew what people thought of her, which made them disapprove and discriminate her. To them, she was the vampire leader's pet, and got special treatment because of it. Damon was well-known around here, the courageous and charming son of the gentle doctor. Not a great idea to mix the freak and the hero together so she gave Damon space, agreeing to his terms that their friendship was strictly private.

"Hey you!"

M looked down at her book as the girls berating her shot her with piercing glares.

"Why aren't you answering? Is the favourite too snotty to talk to the normal people?"

M bit her lip and clenched her hands, knowing that if she fought them she'd have to deal with their parents, who were even more unaccepting of her. She went back to reading, hoping that the bullies would leave her alone. No such luck. They came up to her and started to slap her with more insults, cackling maliciously.

"C'mon answer us! Just 'cause the leader gives you special treatment, it don't mean you can look down on us!" A girl screamed in her ear; spit flew out of her mouth. M cringed and leapt to her feet, walking away. The girl grabbed her by her arm, and pushed her to the ground. M rolled just in time to dodge a kick.

"You tryin' to get to the vamps? Well they aren't gonna see you for a while, since we're gonna beat the shit outta you, you filthy vamp pet." The girl sneered; her second kick hit its target. M groaned as more of the girls screamed insults as they kicked her. She reached out and grabbed a leg, pulling the person down, causing a full out brawl. The people who weren't fighting were hooting in excitement, adding more noise to the screeching and hollering.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

M lifted her head and grinned in relief when Damon ran into the group. She was about to smile at him, but he glared at her and the other girls. Some girls backed down but one stayed strong and scowled right back.

"What's it to you? Damon, she's just the stupid vamp pet." The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. "She got what was coming for her."

"Just leave her alone Katherine." He said, running his hand through his hair. He still didn't look at M, his eyes wandered everywhere but her direction.

"Why do you care?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms. Damon glared at the girl angrily.

"I don't. But the fighting might make the vamps angry." M coughed. He looked at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her up roughly, which caused her to stumble. He caught her easily then hastily stepped away, as if touching her would make the others find out his secret.

"If you're not careful, people might think you like the little freak. It'd be social suicide. You'd be on _her_ side." Katherine sneered. Damon rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"I don't like her." He smirked. "I feel sorry for her, it's not like it's her fault. She may be a freak but that doesn't mean you have to bully her." M bit her lip, his words were like knives to her heart, and hurt more than the bullies' words, more than she expected. "Go away and leave her alone. Don't bully her again or you will be sorry."

He looked at the people around him, and the way he spoke, the conviction in his voice, made others cling on to his every word. Call it a gift or just smooth talking, but there was no doubt that Damon could convince crowds to do anything, from starting a rebellion to jumping off a cliff. But it didn't work with Katherine. She sneered at him.

"You think you can boss us around? Why you-"

"Leave her alone Katherine." One girl said, her eyes full of compassion. Katherine spun around to face her, eyes incredulous.

"Really? Little, weak Elena thinks that she can stand up to me?" Katherine scoffed. "Good luck." And she pushed the other girl to the ground. Damon was helping Elena up in no time, and the two stood up and glared at Katherine. Katherine, who, despite her lack of brains, knew when to admit defeat.

"Fine, we'll leave her alone." She said, and spun on her heal, whipping Damon with her long brown hair. He rolled his eyes, and watched Katherine and her clique as they sauntered out of the room.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked her, expression concerned. She looked to be about 2 years older than Damon. (A/N I know that's not technically correct, but I like the older sister vibe she has with M) M nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks for, you know, not beating me up and stuff." She said awkwardly. Elena smiled angelically at her.

"No problem." Elena answered and turned to leave, waving. M waved back then turned to pick up her book, quickly going to the exit. She started to walk when she felt someone grab her arm. It was Damon.

"Wait." Damon said. M raised her eyebrows.

"It's not like I have a choice. You kind of got me trapped." M said, and gestured to his hand that held her arm, keeping her firmly in place.

"Oh sorry." Damon quickly took his hand away, and placed them behind his back.

"That's okay." M said, tugging nervously at her hair. Damon frowned and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said back there. I didn't mean it and I do actually like being your friend." M started to smile. "But you have to know that we cannot hangout in public and I can't be saving you from bullies all the time or people will start talking." The smile vanished off of M's face and she turned towards the door. Damon went to grab her.

"No I get it." M said, and wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Don't worry; you don't have to save me from bullies anymore. In fact, you don't have to bother with me at all." With that she walked swiftly out of the room, leaving Damon standing alone.

* * *

It has been two weeks since M was beaten up by the bullies and she broke off her and Damon's friendship. She laughed bitterly. Funny how she managed to lose the only friend she had in this hell hole, that she had anything else to lose. She closed her eyes briefly, and massaged her temples.

Despite the fact that she lost Damon, she still had one friend. Although it wasn't the best person to be friends with under the circumstances, and her friend really just wanted to rebel in any way she could which meant being the friends with the social pariah, it was still a connection.

Her friend was named Rayna, and she was Damon's adoptive sister. She was three years older than M, but they fit, M's maturity made her a suitable acquaintance for Rayna. M knew her well, she was there when M would hang out with Damon, and often times hung out with Damon and M, which made them grow pretty close over the last 2 years. Not as close as her and Damon, but close enough that M considered her a friend of sorts. Damon now hung out mostly with Katherine's gang and Elena. Elena was nice but it wasn't like she hung out with them. Being around Damon would be awkward. So she hung out with Rayna.

She got up and walked out of her room towards Rayna's room, they planned to hang out today. She was about to turn the corner when she heard yelling, and quickly flattened herself against the wall, peeking over to see what was wrong. There was a vampire, whose name she knew was Alec, surrounding a boy and he pushed him to the ground. However, from further inspection, M realized that the boy was Damon.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" M yelled angrily as she ran towards Damon, jumping in front of him. She kept her gaze steady, and stared at the red eyes before her, despite the predatory hunger that was in them. They regarded her with indifference, eyes void of any emotions. M felt her heart leap at the fact that she was facing a vampire with their switch off.

"I may not be able to kill you, pet, but I can hurt you." The male vampire said, who looked to be 16, and flashed a feral grin, venom dripping from his mouth. M glared at him, muscles coiled, prepared to fight.

"Don't." Damon said, and grabbed her hand. He yanked her to the floor to sit beside him with surprising strength. "I can fight him myself." M looked at him incredulously, and opened her mouth to protest.

"He's telling the truth, you know. He can take me." Alec sneered.

"What do you mean? He's human and you're a vampire! You'll kill him!" She yelled, and strained to stand back up. Damon tugged her arm again and M fell back down to the ground.

"You haven't told her yet?" Alec said in a mock look of surprise as he turned towards Damon. "You're in for quite a surprise girly." The vampire laughed, turning towards her.

"What is he talking about Damon?" She said, almost scared to hear the answer.

Damon growled fiercely, deep from within his chest as he jumped to his feet. M reached to grab his arm but he was too fast, already a meter away from her by the time she even thought about stopping him. He snarled furiously, in an almost animalistic way as he lunged at the vampire, causing M to shiver involuntarily. At first, Damon was able to dodge the blows from the vampire, but eventually he tired out and Alec started to hit Damon, causing him to cry out, over and over, too fast for her human eyes to follow.

"Leave him alone!" M cried out. The vampire sneered at her.

"Why should I?" He said and left Damon curled up on the floor. He stalked closer towards her, like an animal stalking its prey. M backed away from him until her back hit a wall.

"I'll give you extra blood. For a week, I promise."

Alec seemed to ponder this.

"Not good enough."

M looked at the ground nervously.

"Whatever you want." She whispered submissively, her defiance quickly leaving her body. The vampire smiled cruelly.

"Perfect." He purred, and his hungry eyes pierced into her, crawling under her skin. Then he turned around and sauntered off down the hall. She sat there for a few seconds before she ran towards Damon. She gingerly picked him off and carried him slowly back to his room, to look for Genevieve.

* * *

"Hey."

M lifted her head at the sound of someone talking to her. The girl was human, much to her relief, and she smiled at her. "Hey." M said softly. "What's your name?" The girl studied M before opening her mouth to answer.

"My name's Bonnie." She said. "What's your name?"

"My name's M." She answered. Bonnie's eyes lit up in recognition.

"I know who you are." Bonnie said. "Friends with Damon and Elena right?" M nodded.

"Yeah. Do you know them?" Bonnie shrugged.

"I know of them." She said casually. "But I'm more interested with you. You know Alec right?"

M sneered. "Unfortunately, I do." Bonnie gave her a determined glance.

"Well he killed my grams. And I want to make him pay." M smiled eagerly at Bonnie. She sure wanted to make him pay as well. "Interested?"

"Count me in."

* * *

"Well, it's pretty simple." Bonnie said. "We just need to use this stake." Bonnie pulled a fancy looking stake out of her bag. M reached out to take it. She handled it carefully, twirling it in her hands.

"Will it kill him?" She asked her. Bonnie nodded.

"Yes." Bonnie clenched her hands into fists. "Then he'll be gone for good." M couldn't help but sneer at that.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter 4

3 years later

 ***A/N: M was 14 and Damon was 15. This was 3 years after M came to the vamp prison. Elena's 2 years older than Damon, making her 17, same age as Bonnie. Btw, the** **Bonnie** **in my story is a redhead like in the book* Links for pics are on my profile for Elena and Bonnie**

After M saved Damon from the vampires, people began to accept her, slowly and steadily. Well not completely accept her, but they grudgingly recognized her friendship with Damon, however disapproving they may be of it. It was still a step forward and M was happy with the progress the people made in accepting her as one of them. M helped Damon and he helped her get through her depression.

She had made friends with Damon's other friends too, although they were really just acquaintances with little emotional bonds between them. Not all his friends accepted her in the beginning, but eventually even Katherine became civil with her, even joked around with her. M became good friends however, with Elena, who M soon found out fancied Damon.

And Damon sure liked Elena back. She had beautiful long brown hair and warm, dark brown eyes. Her looks could almost meet that of a vampire. When she grew older, she would be quite beautiful.

M turned towards Damon to catch him staring at Elena, eyes glazed and mouth slightly opened. She rolled her eyes and elbowed him roughly in the ribs. Damon winced slightly but otherwise showed no hint of pain.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" He whined, more out of annoyance than pain. M shrugged, biting into her apple. They were in the cafeteria, one of the few places where the vampires let the whole human population socialize. She giggled when she realized how cliché and mundane Damon's crush was, like a high school romance, although they never got to experience the real thing.

"You looked like a moron. Honestly, if you're gonna stare, close your mouth and don't drool." M said, rolling her eyes. Damon snapped his mouth shut and quickly wiped the drool off of his face. M laughed. "There ya go." Damon turned to grin at her but something caught his eye, causing him to growl. M turned around to see what was happening and quickly found it.

Rayna was sitting on the lap of a vampire, and a powerful one at that. She was kissing him ferociously and they were getting quite into it, which attracted the stares and whispers of the people in the cafeteria. The vampire was the leaders second in command, Kol, and he was known for his cruelty and disregard to human life. M sure knew about his violent streak too.

Yet there Rayna was, a mere human, kissing him in a very passionate display of affection, which caused the respect the people in the cafeteria had for Genevieve and her family start to dissipate, bits of it faded away as the minutes ticked by.

Damon went to stand up but M quickly grabbed his wrist, holding him back. It took a while but eventually his growls subsided and M was able to coax him back into his seat.

"Just ignore her Damon. It's not worth it." M said.

"That's my sister; of course it's worth it!" Damon growled, glaring at her.

"No need to be such an asshole," M bit back at him. "I'm just saying that going into the situation angry will just provoke the vamp and cause more trouble."

"Well what else am I supposed to do M? Talk to him? 'Oh hey, can you stop sucking face with my sister, I would really appreciate it'" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that'd go down real well."

"No, but you should think it through calmly, instead of being a dick about it." M said coolly, but glared at him. His shoulders slouched and he grunted in agreement. "Why don't you go back to drooling over Elena? You seem happy doing that. And I enjoy watching you make a fool out of yourself." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Glad that I entertain you." He muttered sarcastically, but he did what she suggested and turned his attention back to Elena. M smirked.

"Just ask her out."

Damon rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, sure. Take her to a cafeteria where she'd most likely be the meal. Real romantic." M sneered.

"You know what I mean." Damon looked at her with an unreadable expression, which caused M's cocky smirk to falter. "Are you okay?" She asked Damon, and reached out to squeeze his hand.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Damon said, pulling his hand away to run it through his hair. He looked anxiously at Elena and then plastered a mask of believable nonchalance onto his face; his arrogant smirk was enough to cause M to roll her eyes. "Wish me luck." He winked at her and then sauntered off to Elena's table.

And boy, he sure had a lot of luck.

Damon had Elena wrapped around his little finger just as she had him around hers by the end of lunch.

"Wow Casanova, you sure know how to woo the girls." M said teasingly. He backed away from her, never losing his cocky smirk, to put a ballroom song on. Damon smirked and gave her an extravagant bow, extending his hand.

"Care for a dance?" Damon smirked. "I hear my amazingly good looks make all the girls swoon."

M rolled her eyes. "Somewhat." Damon put a hand over his heart.

"You offend me." He smiled, but held out a hand for her to take. M smiled back at him, grabbing his hand and starting to dance, with twirls and lifts and dips. M laughed loudly when Damon dipped her, the world flipped upside down, a nice, exhilarating feeling. He lifted her back up and they danced some more, which earned a lot of stares and a few glares from the watching crowd. M and Damon didn't care; they were having too much fun to worry about what the others thought. Damon spun her again and then let go, letting her continue spinning away from him.

Her laughter was abruptly cut off when she crashed into a stone cold body. Hands grabbed her wrists and held her in place. M looked up into the red eyes of a vampire, ready for the anger in their expression, but instead saw the smirking face of Alec. M's face hardened into a glare as she stared at Alec.

He pouted. "What's wrong darling? Don't want to dance with the big, bad wolf? You danced with him." Alec jerked his chin at Damon to which Damon hissed. The vampire's smirk grew when he heard that. He leaned into M's ear. "I won't bite."

"Screw off, Alec." M hissed, struggling against the vamps grip. He growled and held on tighter, leaning into her neck with his teeth bared.

"I'd be careful if I were you princess." He whispered, teeth grazing the soft skin on her neck. M swallowed thickly and a shiver scurried down her spine. She let herself go limp, and leaned into Alec submissively. "That's what I thought."

They danced for a bit, M stayed detached and limp, letting Alec control the movements. She eventually got into the dancing when a whispered threat was wrapped around her neck, forcing her to interact. The vampire laughed at that, to which M cringed. Finally, it was over and he let her go.

He leaned in to whisper. "Thanks for the dance, sweetheart. See you around." He winked at her and then disappeared, leaving her with shivers down her spine.

M turned and saw Damon looking at her. He opened his mouth to talk to her but Elena got his attention, and he started laughing with her. M was quickly forgotten and whatever Damon wanted to say was quickly dismissed. M rolled her eyes, despite the subtle hurt she felt, and walked out of the cafeteria. Before she left, M caught Bonnie's eye, and gave her a grim nod. Bonnie smiled.

* * *

"So?" Bonnie asked M, who was sitting in her room, eyes closed. "Do you love him?" M cracked one eye open.

"He's my best friend." M said, and then smirked. "Besides you of course." Bonnie sent her a grin.

"You know that's not what I meant." Bonnie laughed. M fiddled with her fingers.

"Even if I did, he's in love with Elena." She paused, sighing softly. "And Elena's my best friend. I want her to be happy with him." Bonnie nodded, and then sent her a serious look.

"You're too nice for your own good." She cautioned. M shrugged, lying back down against the bed.

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked Bonnie, curling onto her side, sleep slurring her words. "Does it matter if I hide what I feel so that other people can be happy?" The two friends had been talking all night and M was so tired she didn't realize she said anything until the words slipped past her lips, leaving a sweet after taste on her tongue. Or maybe that was the peach schnapps they drank before this. She wasn't too sure whether this was all real or a figment of her imagination. Bonnie was silent, sleep clouding her mind as well.

"I don't know." Bonnie said after a while. "Just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt." M looked at Bonnie, but her friend was already sound asleep, snoring softly. M smiled at her, and then yawned widely.

"I know." She whispered, slightly more sober than before, and then fell asleep.

* * *

M stretched and groaned. She slowly got up and brought her cup into the washroom, filling it with ice cold water. The water quenched her thirst; however it did little to lessen her hangover. She shuffled back to the bed and put the frosty glass against her forehead."My head!"

Bonnie opened her crusty eyes, yawning. "Tell me about it. The peach schnapps weren't even that good."

"Uggh!" M groaned again. She looked over at Bonnie. "They weren't that bad to be honest."

"Only because you've never had anything else." Bonnie sniggered. M waved her off.

"Yeah yeah." She muttered. "Whether you drink cheap or expensive alcohol, it still gives you the same old rotten hangover." Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Bonnie asked casually. M paled. She did, but she hoped Bonnie didn't. "Because I don't." Bonnie snorted, and then laughed. M relaxed, and laughed too.

"Same." She lied. "We should probably get going." M yawned, stretching lazily. But she subconsciously contradicted her own words as her eyelids started to droop shut. "Or maybe we could just…." And her head hit the pillow.

Bonnie laughed. "They're gonna whoop our ass if we're not up soon!" She grabbed her friend and dragged her up, much to the protests of the other girl.

"Just one more minute?" M whined. "Besides, we have a bunch of stakes." She mimed staking a vampire. "S'not that hard."

"A hungover Buffy equals a dead Buffy." Bonnie smirked. "Let's not get too excited." M rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She said. "Let's go to work."

"It's always fun to be someone's personal blood bag." Bonnie smirked.

M tipped her glass towards Bonnie. "Damn right."

* * *

"I'm in love!" Damon cried, bursting through M's door in the middle of the night.

"Alright Casanova." She said, without looking up from the book she was flipping through. Damon glared at her, unhappy with her new nickname she had for him ever since he started dating Elena. His annoyance was quickly forgotten however, and he flopped down onto her bed, staring up at the roof.

"This is true love that I feel for sweet Elena! Sorrow can come but it cannot affect the joy that I get in one short minute that I am in her sight!" Damon said, eyes glistening. "She is as smart as she is beautiful. My bounty is as endless as the sea and my love is just as deep. The more I give to Elena the more I have because both of them are unlimited!"

"Whoa there Shakespeare, you may think this is true love but you have to be rational about this as well. You've only known her for 2 months. This can end very badly if you're not careful." M warned, looking at Damon sternly. Damon just sighed contently.

"Elena." He said to himself with a stupid, love-struck grin on his face. His eyes were glassy and far away, not at all focused on M and only on his infatuation with Elena.

"Are you high or something? Drunk? Did you sneak some wine?" Damon giggled. M sighed, enough prove right there. "What was it? Drugs or alcohol."

Damon leaned towards her. "It's a secret." He whispered, his breath hitting her face, reeking of alcohol.

"You're drunk." M said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, let's get you home." M grabbed Damon by the arms and led him out and down the hall. The trip to his room was pretty smooth, except for the part where he puked all down his shirt. M kept him at arm's length from then on. It sobered him up to get it out, so he didn't need as much assistance walking.

They made it to his room and Damon took off his puke covered shirt. He looked pretty bad, his face was pale and there were bags under his eyes, making it look like he hadn't slept in a week. His cheeks were sunken in, as if he was malnourished.

Damon went into the washroom to clean up. After five minutes he was finally done. He was still pale, had bags under his eyes, and malnourished, but now at least he was clean. He went over to his bed and lay down.

"Uggh, I feel horrible!" Damon said, the effects of the booze were already wearing off, but it left him with a horrible hangover. "Drinking was such a mistake." M smirked at him.

"Well I hope you have a long hangover, it'll teach you a lesson." M sneered. Damon just waved her off.

"It'll be gone in an hour." Damon gestured to the bed. "Come lie down." M walked over and lay down beside him, though she quickly retreated.

"You stink like vomit!" She went to get up but Damon trapped her into a hug. He rubbed his face in her hair, making the smell even worse. "Don't you dare get puke in my hair!" She hissed. Damon laughed.

"Don't worry. I – wait a sec…"

"Damon!" M whined and pushed him away, sitting up. He laughed and looked at her playfully, lying down but leaning on his elbow, his head supported by his hand.

"I'm just kidding." He said "Honest, I am." He continued when he saw her face. Finally relieved, M relaxed and lay back down. Damon wrapped her in a hug again and leaned his face back in her hair, breathing intensely. M stiffened, and started to blush, heart racing.

"You have a girlfriend." She hissed. Damon ignored her and moved his face down to her neck. M's pulse quickened even more, which caused Damon to inhale deeply and lower his mouth to her throat, teeth grazing her jugular.

"What the hell are you doing!?" M shouted, and tried to push him away. Damon snarled predatorily, holding on tighter, which caused M to whimper in fear. His teeth pressed harder into her neck, almost breaking the skin.

"Damon, please." M whispered. She placed her hand on his chest, looking into his eyes. Damon seemed to snap out of it because in the next second he was at the other side of the room, pacing. "What the hell was that?" She whispered. When there was no answer, she asked again, this time more demanding.

"I can't tell you." Damon growled, turning away from her. M's anger peaked.

"Like hell you can't! You better answer me right now, Damon, or so help me I will-"

"I'm half-vampire!" Damon snarled. "There. Happy?" M just stared at him in shock. Piecing it together in her head, she realized that it made total sense. The unnatural strength, the comment that Alec made about how Damon could manage on his own, his pain tolerance, his predatory side, the vamps dislike to his blood, how he's squeamish around blood, it all made sense now.

"Oh." She said, unsure of what to say exactly. Damon sneered.

"Really? That's all you have to say? Where's the running and screaming."

"We live in a prison run by vampires." M said softly. "You don't scare me."

"The pace of your heart tells me otherwise." Damon said, suddenly in front of her. She managed to keep herself from flinching, but she could not stop her heart from jumping. Damon gave her a grim smirk. "You should be afraid of me. I'm a million times faster than you."

As if to prove his point, Damon had M pinned against the opposite wall in one second flat. This time M did allow herself to cringe away from Damon, her heart pumped wildly.

"Damon, stop it!" M sobbed, kicking him in the shins. She was quite sure she broke her toes. He didn't even seem to notice, his face wild and out of control.

"I'm a million times stronger than you." He shoved his hand through the concrete wall, pulled out a chunk and crumbled it to dust.

He reached out to touch M's face and she recoiled, terrified of the strength that he could use on her. He grabbed her chin, oddly gentle, and tilted her head back, exposing her throat. He put his mouth against her neck, his teeth pressed against her jugular.

"And I'm the predator." He whispered against her throat, his cold breath sent shivers down her spine, whether out of fear or pleasure she didn't quite know. She instinctually leaned into him, and he did the same, his teeth pressed harder into her neck to the point that it was almost painful.

Before his teeth could break the skin however, Damon was across the room and was leaning against the wall, sitting with his head on his knees. M got up and walked slowly over to him. When she was a meter away from him, he held up a hand.

"Don't come any closer. I don't want to hurt you." Damon said hoarsely. M shook her head.

"You won't." She walked up to Damon and sat down beside him. Gingerly, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Damon raised his head and smiled at her gratefully. She gave him a small smile back and leaned her head against his shoulder. M yawned and closed her heavy eyes, fatigue overcoming her.

"How can you still trust me after I lost control?" Damon whispered, swallowing thickly. "How can you sit here when you know that I could suddenly snap and have my teeth against your neck?" M shrugged, eyes closed.

"Just the fact that you can sit here questioning that makes me trust you." M whispered and looked into his eyes. "And besides, I've dealt with worse."

"You're really not worried that I'll hurt you?"

M shook her head. "I have complete faith in you. You just have to have faith in yourself."

Damon looked down at her and smiled. M smiled back. They sat there in the silence, long enough for the time to be quickly forgotten, a moment of tenderness in their harsh world.

"Thank you for helping me Mia." Damon whispered. M nodded groggily.

"That's what friends are for."

And with that, they fell asleep, quickly forgetting the differences between them; their friendship being the only thing that mattered.

* * *

M groaned, and stretched her neck out. She rubbed her bleary eyes and got up, muscles aching from the rough sleep. Damon wasn't in the room, or the bathroom. M slowly walked to the door and opened it, looking out into the hallway. When she couldn't find him, she turned back into the room.

"Looking for me?" M jumped, startled, and spun around. Damon was in front of her in the doorway. He flinched. "Sorry for scaring you."

"I'm fine." M croaked. She cleared her throat. "Where'd you go?"

"I needed some fresh air." Damon said and swallowed thickly. "Your scent was very…appetizing. It was everywhere." M nodded, she knew full well how delicious vampires thought her blood was.

She gave him the once over. He looked even hungrier than he was the night before; his eyes were a darker green, and the usual red specks were now a deep black. Funny how she never noticed the red before (A/N In my story red eyes means they drink human blood and black when they're hungry). The bags under his eyes were even more prominent and the malnourishment was visible in his face. She turned around and walked into the room, Damon followed.

"You're thirsty." She stated. Damon was about to deny it but nodded, seeing the look on M's face. She walked into the washroom and took Damon's razor and removed the blade. She grabbed a Styrofoam cup and walked out of the bathroom.

Damon looked at M nervously, seeing the razor in M's hand. She ignored him and wrapped her hand around the blade. Suddenly, the blade and cup were gone, taken by Damon in a mere second.

"What the hell was that?" Damon growled. "If you cut yourself, you would have bled." M rolled her eyes.

"That was the point. You need blood and I intend on giving it to you." Damon growled again. "Oh don't be like that. Where else would you get the blood? The vamps won't give you one of the blood bags and I don't think you want to attack Elena when you get thirsty."

"I don't want to attack you either." He snarled, giving her a deathly glare.

"That's why I had a cup and a blade, so you wouldn't have to bite me." M said calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Damon gave a frustrated groan.

"What's to prevent me from attacking you once I smell the delicious scent of your blood?" He inhaled deeply as if to prove his point. "Even when you're not bleeding, your scent is irresistible."

M sighed. "Did you forget what I said last night or are you simply refusing to believe it? I trust you. Now you have to trust yourself." M said softly. "If it makes you feel better, you can wait outside." She smiled at him. Damon gave her a grim smile back. He nodded.

"Fine." He handed back the blade and cup. He didn't go outside though. He stayed standing where he was, holding his breath. M rolled her eyes at his ridiculous masochism, and then put all her focus back on the task at hand. Literally, at hand. She laughed at her own little joke. Damon gave her a curious glance but M just shrugged.

She held her hand over the cup and clenched the blade. Grabbing the bottom, she pulled the razor, gasping at the pain. She looked up at Damon. He was looking away from the blood, and still wasn't breathing.

M squeezed her hand, and let the blood drip into the cup until it got filled up. Then she walked over to the washroom and washed off the blade and rinsed the blood off her hand. Grabbing some gauze, she quickly wrapped her hand and brought the cup over to Damon.

"Here you go." She said. He looked at her, and then at her hand, teeth clenched together, his expression hard, but in control. He took the cup gently from her hands and brought the rim up to his mouth. He sipped slowly but when the liquid slid down his throat, he moaned in delight, gulping down the rest. He closed his eyes when he was done, jaw clenched.

"Thank you." He said. His voice was already stronger and his complexion already healthier. M nodded, not sure if she could keep the disgust of the fact that he just drank blood, her blood, from showing. But Damon knew her too well. "This must be so disgusting for you." M was about to deny it but she just nodded when she saw Damon's pleading expression.

"Your…diet…grosses me out a bit." M said. Damon nodded, understanding. "What do you eat exactly?" Damon looked at her.

"Well, I eat some human food. It's easier to keep my bloodlust under control if my diet consists of some human food. If I only eat human food, my bloodlust gets stronger, but if I only drink blood, my bloodlust also gets stronger. So my diet is 2/3 food and 1/3 blood." Damon said cautiously, not wanting to freak M out. She just nodded.

"Who gives you the blood?" M asked.

"Genevieve or Rayna."

"Their own blood?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah. Obviously they know about my…uh…condition."

"Why did you lose control if you're diet helps you control it?" M asked. Damon fiddled with the cup, guiltily.

"I didn't have blood for almost a week. Plus the effects of the booze made me crave for blood more." M nodded, understanding.

"You don't like being a vampire, do you." She said, more of a statement than a question. Damon looked away sadly.

"I don't want to hurt you." Damon said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Ever." M grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

"I know. You're the most honorable vampire here." Damon looked at her and smiled gratefully. M smiled back, knowing that he was thanking her. She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the door. "Now let's get to breakfast, I'm starving. And so that you can see Elena." M crowed, making kissy lips. M smirked at Damon and he smirked cunningly back, grinning as he swung her over his shoulder, running down the hall towards the cafeteria amidst the laughter of his best friend.

* * *

"Are you sure you can go through with this?" Bonnie asked her cautiously. M nodded. Despite the fact that their friendship was started on less than honourable intentions, Bonnie and M were as thick as thieves, and they considered themselves best friends, confidantes, a shoulder to lean on, and quite good at planning murder.

"Sure as sure can be." M said. "Alec believes me to be weak and helpless, easy to push around. Little does he know…." M pulled out the stake and admired it. She sent Bonnie a sly smile and Bonnie sent her own grin back.

"I'll be outside the door. Once you distract him, stab him with the stake and I'll come in with the second, ready to jam it in if yours didn't do the trick." M nodded.

"See you soon." M said and slipped out the door, ready to go meet with Alec.

* * *

"Hello sweetheart." Alec purred as M walked in. She clenched her jaw angrily, but remained stoic.

"Hi Alec." M said, lifting up her sleeve. Alec reached out and grabbed M's arm roughly, causing her to gasp. He then brought her wrist up to his lips and bit down, eyes black with hunger. M sighed and subconsciously leaned into Alec, just as she reached down her boot to pull out the stake.

Alec, who was so consumed in his bloodlust, didn't notice the action and M was able to ram the stake through his heart. He stumbled back; face frozen in the expression that was there before M killed him. M felt a flurry of satisfaction at seeing his body desiccate. Horrified, she shoved that feeling down and kept herself from puking in disgust.

"Wow. Our plan worked out great." Bonnie said as she came into the room. Smiling, Bonnie turned to look at M. "Good job."

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" M fretted. "Do they have security cameras here?" Bonnie shook her head.

"Nope. Vampires don't believe in that." Bonnie said. "They have a witch, but a loyalty of a witch lies with their own kind way more than any other supernatural. Especially vampires." M looked at Bonnie in wonder.

"You got the witch on our side?" M asked. "How?"

"Like I said, witches stick by witches." Bonnie hinted. M's eyes widened.

"You're a witch?!" Bonnie laughed.

"Yep." She said. "Supposedly, Bennett witches are really powerful. The witch that the vamps have believes that I can help the humans here."

"So no one will know about this?" M asked. "About us?" Bonnie shook her head.

"Not a soul." She tilted her head. "Of course if you believe vampires have souls." M snickered.

"I don't think so." She smirked. "What are we going to do about the body?" Bonnie nudged Alec with her toe, and when he showed no sign of life, she looked back at M.

"I put a cloaking spell on it." Bonnie assured her. "Only me and you can see the body." M sighed in relief.

They still didn't want anyone to come into the room and trip over nothing, which would be what they would think, so the girls picked up the body and shoved it under the bed in his room.

"What are you going to do with the other stakes?" M asked Bonnie. Bonnie twirled the extra stake in her fist. She shrugged.

"I don't know." Bonnie said. "But I think I'm done with murder for now." M laughed in agreement.

"Good idea."

* * *

M walked down the hall towards her room, when she spotted Bonnie at the other end. She waved and shouted to M, speed walking to catch up to her.

"M, I need to-"

But Bonnie was abruptly cut off. "M, I have to talk to you." It was Damon. And he seemed worried. M shot Bonnie a glance, but Damon was already right beside her, while Bonnie was at the end of the hall. Bonnie shrugged and gestured to him, with a curious look on her face. So M chose Damon.

"Thanks Bon. I owe you." M called, and then turned to Damon. "What's wrong?" Damon looked around nervously.

"Not here." He said. Bonnie arrived beside them and went to follow Damon with M, but Damon stopped. "And just you, M." Bonnie glared at Damon accusingly.

"Well okay." She said in mock anger. "I didn't want to be included anyways." Damon sneered at her.

"Oh Bonnie, what would we do without your sass?"

"Include me in your secret conversations."

Damon smirked again. "Sorry. VIP passes only." And then he grabbed M's hand and pulled her away, much to Bonnie's protests. M quickly turned to Damon.

"What's wrong?" M whispered. "Why can't Bonnie come with us?" Damon glanced at Bonnie and M turned to look at her too. Bonnie flashed a grin, and then started mumbling.

"She already knows." Damon said. "She's using a spell to keep our conversation private as we speak."

"Why?" M asked, looking back at Damon. His expression was serious and M felt her heart jump nervously. He must have heard her racing pulse because he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Because I have to tell you something really important." Damon said. "Something that can get me into big trouble if it gets out." M looked over at Bonnie again.

"That's why she's doing the spell." M guessed, but had a very good feeling that she was right.

"Exactly." M raised her eyebrows at Damon.

"Well…" M prompted. Damon laughed.

"We have started a rebellion." Damon whispered out of habit. "I'm running it with Genevieve. I want to ask if you want to join." M nodded immediately.

"Of course." She whispered back. "Is Bonnie a part of it?" Damon nodded at her.

"Most people are, except for Katherine and her lackeys, and other random people." Damon answered. "I trust that you'll keep this a secret?"

M smiled softly at Damon. "Do you really doubt me?" Damon smiled at her.

"No." He laughed softly. "It's just habit to ask I guess."

"Well I cross my heart and hope to die, if that makes you feel better." M said teasingly. Damon smirked at her.

"Much." He wrapped her into a hug. "Thanks M. For everything." M felt her heart falter a bit, and she barely kept her voice from stuttering.

"There's no need to thank me." M whispered. "You've helped me more."

Damon pulled back to smile at her. "We've helped each other." They continued to stand in each other's arms until they were rudely interrupted by a not so considerate friend.

"Ew guys, get a room!" Bonnie sneered. Damon quickly flipped her off and M felt his chest rumble as he growled playfully at Bonnie. M started to giggle, and stuck her tongue out at the redhead. Bonnie pouted and rolled her eyes. "Your cuteness is gonna make me puke."

"Well, deal with it." M laughed. Bonnie held her hands up in surrender.

"Woah. The sass." She mocked. She peeked around Damon and gave M a look, causing the other girl to look behind her. Flustered, she pulled away from Damon, surprised that they were standing there like that for such a long time, and went to stand beside Bonnie in time for Elena to arrive without seeing anything.

"Hey guys." Elena said softly, and then turned to Damon, planting a soft kiss on his lips. "Hey babe." She whispered her eyes alight with passion. Damon's eyes wandered down Elena's body, a mischievous smirk on his face. His arms went around her waist and he pulled her close to his body. Elena grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him back around the corner; her eyes matched his look of lust, and they were too caught up in their passion to notice Bonnie and M standing awkwardly at the side.

Once they rounded the corner, the redhead let out a sigh. "Finally. It was getting a little heated." M winced in agreement, nodding her head. The redhead turned to give M a sly look. "So. Do you think they did it yet?" She mistook M's look of disgust for a look of confusion because she gave a much unwanted description. "You know, like sex." Bonnie looked at her again, and M realized she probably still looked confused, even though she was really just grossed out, because Bonnie continued on with her unwanted explanation. "You do know what sex is, right? How, in Elena and Damon's case, it involves Damon's di-"

"I know how sex works, okay?" M blurted out, slapping a hand over Bonnie's mouth to keep her from talking. "I just don't like talking about my friend doing it." Bonnie rolled her eyes as she removed M's hand.

"That's the whole point of best friends, M." Bonnie stated condescendingly. M raised her eyebrow.

"To fulfill fantasies? Since I know you're not getting some." M snorted. Bonnie flipped her off.

"Exactly." Bonnie agreed. M balked. "Oh, don't look so scandalized, I know you wanted to know too." She shrugged, not trying to deny it, since the redhead wouldn't believe her anyways. So she changed the subject.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" M asked her friend. Bonnie turned serious and M instantly grew worried. Bonnie grabbed her arm and they ducked into a utility closet, no one around to hear them.

"We're in deep shit." Bonnie whispered, and M felt her pulse start to race. "The vamps noticed Alec was gone and they're getting suspicious." M wrung her hands nervously.

"They don't think we did it, do they?" She asked nervously, looking at Bonnie for confirmation. But her friend didn't shake her head in assurance.

"I killed another vampire, M." Bonnie whispered. M's eyes widened, she didn't even have to voice her question about why. "They were on to us and knew about the other witch as well so…I killed him." M nodded in understanding.

"So, what do we do now?" M asked Bonnie. The redhead gave her a grim frown.

"Keep a low profile and try to survive." Bonnie answered. All M could do was nod in agreement.

Let's hope the rebellion didn't get her killed.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter 5

 **4 years later: M:15, Damon:16,** **Elena** **: 18**

M looked at Damon, who was cuddling with Elena. Genevieve came through the doors and swiftly walked up to Damon. Seeing her approaching, Damon quickly stood up and followed Genevieve back out of the cafeteria, with Elena at their heels. The door shut quietly and M looked back at her sandwich, thinking about what just happened.

Throughout the years that M had been at the vampire colony, Genevieve had been running this rebellion behind the scenes. At first, Damon and all his friends weren't involved, but now that he was old enough, and with his persuasion skills, he was able to lead it along with Genevieve. He was Genevieve's second in command, really. M looked up to Genevieve. Not only was she kind and generous, she was smart, strong, brave and a warrior.

So was Elena, if not more strong, her anger fueling her strength. Her parents were both turned when the vampires found out they were rebelling, this was before Genevieve was the leader. The vampires were going to just kill them but they figured the best way to stop the rebellion was to change the leaders into the monsters they were fighting against. Needless to say, Elena never saw her parents again since after they tried to kill her. They were newly changed and when the vamps let them loose to see Elena, they tried to attack her. Ashamed that they nearly killed their daughter, they lashed out at the other vamps. That caused them to be exiled out of the prison and they were never heard from again.

Bonnie was discreetly a part of the rebellion. Bonnie worked with the witch, trying to organize a way of helping the rebellion and allowing them to have a contingency plan set up. So they inconspicuously helped rebel, but kept distant from the rebel organization. In case it fell apart or they were discovered, Bonnie and the witch were safe from the consequences, and so they could keep the rebellion going even if the humans were discovered.

M wanted to help too, and she did, but she was scared too and the people that were a part of the rebellion were nervous with her around. With the vampire's unusual interest in her, people were suspicious that she would rat them out to the vamps. Little did they know, M had plenty of reasons to hate them. She witnessed her family's murder, and now she had a risk of getting killed by the vampires with the vendetta, out to kill the person who killed Alec. Unlucky for M, that person was her. To say the least, she was in deep shit. But the humans didn't know and even if she said she would never tell about the rebellion, they would still have the suspicion.

Damon stood up for her, though. Despite it all, he still had her back.

* * *

M walked to the cafeteria, but she became all too aware of the wary glares that were shot her way, so she clenched her jaw and tried to control her temper. She went to her usual spot beside Damon, but a boy sitting across from her sent her a glare.

"Oh come _on_ , Damon." He hissed. "You're really going to let her sit with us?" M saw Damon's jaw clench, a tic that he developed over time, happening when he was really angry.

"Yes. If you have a problem with it, you can go sit by yourself, Adam." Damon gritted out. Adam held his hands up in submission, but the angry gleam in his eyes showed that he wasn't giving up.

"She's a liability." He said angrily. "If you _still_ believe that she's trustworthy, then you shouldn't be in charge." Damon seemed to be in a conflict between his pride, and the friendship they had. Luckily, their friendship seemed to win this time.

" _Go_." Damon snarled dangerously. When Adam showed no sign of listening, Damon whipped his head up with a low growl, and a glare cold enough to freeze Hell over. Adam hastily stood up, barely hiding his fear, and walked dejectedly to another table. If anyone else had any comments about M, they wisely kept their mouths shut.

"You didn't have to do that." M whispered. "It was risky." Damon just sent her a smirk.

"Anything to help my best friend." Damon said sincerely. M quickly cast her eyes to the ground.

"Likewise." She said, sending Damon a soft smile. He smiled back down at her, for a few seconds, and then started to tease her, making her forget all about the rumours surrounding her.

* * *

"Damon!"

M froze and stopped in her tracks, backing up against the wall. Luckily, Damon and the person with him had stopped.

"What?" Damon growled, and M felt shivers race down her spine, she never liked being near him when the vampire aspect of him came into view. The boy with him must have felt the same because he stammered.

"Chill man. I'm just trying to warn you." The boy said cautiously. "Adam wasn't very happy about what happened last week. He's organizing mutiny against you." Damon cursed.

"He wants to overrule me?"

"Yes. I don't agree with him, but even _I_ have to admit, hanging around the girl will make things worse." The younger boy spoke cautiously, but with confidence in what he was saying, and from the silence following it, M could only assume that Damon saw the sense in the boy's words.

M felt her gut churn when he did nothing to defend her and she slipped away before he could sense her around.

* * *

"Damon!" A boy came running up to them, M looking warily at Damon, trying to gauge his reaction. His expression remained stoic and unreadable as the boy sent a death glare at M.

"What is it Gabe?" Damon asked coldly, not missing the glare that the boy sent his friend. Gabe trembled a little at the tone of Damon's voice, but M was impressed at the boy's self-control since his voice never wavered, his eye contact never faltered.

"Someone attacked Adam." Gabe spat out, and from the glare that he was sending M, she could only assume that he suspected her. She bristled and sent her own glare back, but otherwise kept her mouth shut.

"A vampire?" Damon asked coolly, keeping calm even though he most likely saw their little exchange there. After a few tense seconds, Gabe broke eye contact with M to look back at Damon.

"No." He hissed. "A _human_." And then went right back to glaring at M. Damon raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Gabe, then flickered over to look at M. Gabe got the message, because he puffed out his chest, eyes fearful of his great leader, but assured. "The attacker was a _girl_." He said it with so much conviction, as if the fact that M and the criminal were both girls was enough proof to accuse her of the crime. "Adam said, when we finally got him conscious enough to speak, that the girl was her height as well." This time, Gabe flat out revealed what M knew everyone else believed. That she attacked Adam. She bristled at the accusation.

"I did _not_." She hissed and stepped towards him. Gabe backed up, he was only a mouse of a boy, and he knew M had Damon on her side as well. Didn't stop him from speaking.

"You don't believe _her_ , do you Damon?" Gabe scowled, accusing eyes piercing him. Damon gave his own glare back and clenched his fists, closing his eyes for a brief second to calm himself down.

"I don't know." He admitted. Despite the hurt that she felt that he didn't believe her, she knew he had to say that, or he would have had full out mutiny. "But I know we still don't have enough evidence to accuse anyone."

"But the victim survived!" Gabe shouted; spit flying out of his mouth in his rage. Damon's eyes flashed, his jaw clenched, and Gabe shrunk back, but he persisted. "We should believe _him_!"

"Right now, I'm going to listen to every part of the story before I accuse anyone of _anything_." Damon said, dangerously quiet, but M could sense the vampire lurking within him. She reached out and touched his arm gently. He looked at her briefly, and then breathed to calm himself.

Gabe didn't see this exchange because he was too busy keeping _his_ anger contained. "You only say that because you're friends with _her_! You don't know what she did! What she does!" Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. _Enlighten_ me. What don't I know?" Damon asked. He was calm and indifferent, yet again, and M shivered despite herself. The vampire was very close.

Damon glared at Gabe, and the boy bent his head down, eyes cast away, but throat exposed. M could still see the demon that lurked behind Damon's human side, so she quickly grabbed his hand as his fangs slid out of his gums. He turned to face her, and she reached out to place a finger against his lips as a warning. After a few seconds, Damon nodded, sighing deeply, and his fangs disappeared. Gabe was still looking down, missing the whole exchange. M trembled with relief and she sent Damon a warning glare, prepared for the things coming next.

"She fraternizes with the enemy." Gabe spat. "She willingly gives them what they want." M bristled.

"You know nothing about that! You know nothing about what he threatened!" She shouted, attempting to lunge at the boy. Gabe screamed, and backed away, but Damon grabbed her before she could do anything. "You and your friends can get to know someone, know the whole story before you say things." Damon drew her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. His jaw clenched, he raised his head slowly to look at the boy, who cowered in true fear. M didn't blame him. When the vampire was in control, Damon was very scary.

"You better get out of here. Tell your friend Adam-" Damon spat the name, as if it was poison in his mouth. "- that he should think twice about accusing innocent people." Gabe nodded, turning to flee. But before he could, Damon grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, spinning him around. "And also, tell him that if he continues with his mutiny idea, that he will be very, very, disappointed." Damon must have used some of his vampire fear-instilling skills because Gabe left blubbering and sobbing like a baby.

"That was really risky, Damon." M whispered, looking worriedly at him. He didn't meet her eyes, he just stared after the boy, jaw clenched.

"Don't talk about that. Anything but that." Damon gritted out. "Talk about the weather or something, but nothing to remind me of this, or I don't think I can resist from following that boy and ripping his throat out."

"Okay" M agreed. "Hmm. Well, the weather seems nice, sunny with no chance of rain." She snorted. "Of course I haven't been outside for a few years, so that's a rough estimate."

"It is, is it?" Damon gave her a tight lipped smile.

"Yes." M stated, and teasingly flipped her hair. "But I'm always right." Damon chuckled.

"Of course you are." He said affectionately, but his voice was strained. M studied him, and she knew that he was barely fighting the demon inside him; it was so close to the surface, and M felt fear race up her spine. She could see the affect that the bloodlust had on him. The instinct to hunt and feed made him visibly quiver at the thought of chasing that boy down, and attacking him like a vampire was supposed to do.

"You're hungry." She stated, and eyed him warily. He flinched under her gaze, but nodded.

"That boy really tested my control." He closed his eyes. "I feel it, so close to the surface." M looked at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to control it if he ran across Adam or anyone else like that. So she did what she had to. She rolled her sleeve up, exposing the prominent vein on her wrist, and held it out to Damon. She saw Damon's jaw clench, but he too knew he wouldn't be able to control it. So with only a few seconds hesitation, he gently took her wrist, and pulled it to his mouth. M's heart raced fearfully when Damon's fangs scraped the tender skin on her wrist, and gasped in pain as he bit down.

* * *

"Thanks M." Damon muttered into her wrist, disgust coating his words. But M could also hear the want, the pleasure that the vampire side of him felt from drinking blood from the vein. Her heart jumped and she felt it as Damon shuddered, barely stopping from drinking more. But he didn't. He pulled away and closed his eyes, fangs retracting. "You don't know how much this means to me." M looked up at him and smiled.

"It's the least I could do." M said. "You stood up for me. Thanks." Damon just gave her a tight lipped smile and handed her a bandage. M took it promptly and swiftly put it against her wrist, taping it down and pulling her sleeve over it. She winced, the skin sensitive and throbbing, but she shoved the pain down, keeping a poker face so Damon wouldn't start feeling guilty.

Of course, he was just naturally guilty.

"No. You never have to give me blood. Not if you don't want to." Damon said broodingly. M rolled her eyes, and shoved him. He just took it, barely using any strength to even keep himself standing, which meant he bumped into a table, with a remorseful look on his face through it all. M rolled her eyes and snorted.

"Yeah yeah Mr. Masochist. Everything I do regarding you I _choose_ to do, so don't be guilty." Damon looked at her thoughtfully, and M raised her eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing." Damon chuckled. "You're pretty amazing, you know that?" M shrugged.

"I like to think I'm just normal. That way, people might not treat me like I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak." Damon growled protectively. M chuckled.

"It's okay." M said but continued when she saw the disbelieving look that Damon was giving her. "Honestly, I don't care what they think. It's not like it affects my chances anyways."

Damon continued to look at her, and M began to fidget. Eventually, he looked away. "Just, be careful."

M rolled her eyes. "I'm always careful." But a sinking feeling came into her stomach when she remembered the situation her and Bonnie were currently in regarding Alec. She shivered. "I'm fine."

Damon nodded. "Okay. Watch out for Adam, yeah?" M saluted him.

"Yes sir!" She rolled her eyes. "Anything else?" He shook his head.

"No. I'm going to see Elena now, are you good on your own? Especially if someone was to attack you?"

"I'm good, seriously!" She laughed. "It's fine; go see your lady love!" He chuckled and shook his head. "What are you waiting for, Casanova?"

"Nothing." He laughed again and got up, kissing her on the head, before walking towards the door.

M sat for a few minutes, collecting her thoughts, before standing up and going out the door opposite of the door Damon went out of. She slinked down the halls, listening for any footsteps behind or coming towards her in a perpendicular hallway. It all went down without a hitch, and she made it to Bonnie's room without incident.

"Hey Bon." She called to her friend, but when the redhead turned to face M with a dreadful look on her face, M immediately tensed and frowned, eyes darting towards the door nervously.

"Don't worry." Bonnie whispered. "No one can hear us." M relaxed, but still kept her guard up.

"What happened?" She asked her friend, and Bonnie began shaking in fear.

"We have to get out of here." M looked at the redhead, shocked.

"But, we can't." M said blankly. Bonnie gave her a desperate look.

"We have to try, or else they're going to kill us." Bonnie pleaded and M shrugged helplessly.

"They'll kill us even if we try to escape." Bonnie paused, a hopeless expression coming onto her face when she realized that M was right. M felt guilty for crushing her friend's hope, but it was the truth.

"I don't know, M." Bonnie lamented. "They suspect us, that's for sure, but we have an advantage."

"What?" Bonnie grabbed her hands.

"I'm a witch; I can cloak us, and get us out of here." M looked away, down at her feet.

"What about everyone else?" Bonnie paused; guilt washed over her face at the mention of all the other innocent people here because the vampires took them away from the world, from their life.

"If we stay, we can't help them anyways." M nodded, agreeing.

"But we don't have to run." M conceded. "We can fight." Bonnie gave her a look. "Come on, we can do it. We have stakes, powers and, well honestly, I don't know what _I_ have to bring to the table." M admitted.

Bonnie laughed. "Another person to fight." M laughed in agreement.

"There you go." She smiled. "We'll fight, and we'll avoid attention, yeah?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

"You're in the rebellion, M." She said. "That's _a lot_ of attention." M shrugged, brushing off her concern.

"If I tell Damon about it, he'd be on our side." M said. "They're all about fighting the vampires anyways, right? So they'll be able to join our fight." Bonnie nodded slowly.

"Okay." She said in agreement. "You work on that, and I, well I guess I'll work on getting stronger, on gaining more power." Her mouth formed a grim line. "And I'll get more stakes." M cheered.

"Yay, stakes!" She laughed, and Bonnie joined in. "Okay, Bon. Sounds like a plan."

* * *

M walked back to her room, her hands brushed against the stake Bonnie gave her that was tucked in her pocket, the feel of the wood keeping her from feeling too helpless in the idea of running into a bad vampire.

Unfortunately she forgot about the _humans_.

"Hey, you little skank!" Katherine called out to her. M scowled. "No good vamp pet!"

M rolled her eyes at the insult, and kept on walking, hand brushing again on the stake in her pocket.

However, more people came up in front of her, and they started stalking towards her, causing her to back up, back towards Katherine. Together the group of people involved herded her towards the cafeteria where the other humans were eating. Before they went in, Katherine, who was facing M, smirked evilly, and the girls behind M backed out of the view of the cafeteria. M shrank away from the girl, unsure of what she was up to.

"Ow!" Katherine shrieked, slapping herself in the face. M's eyes widened when she realized what Katherine was doing, but when M tried to flee, the people behind her blocked the exits. Katherine brought out a knife, and instead of turning it on M, aimed it at herself, right in the gut. Unlucky for M, Katherine was cunning enough to aim the knife so it looked like M attacked her. M shook her head slowly in anger.

Katherine fell against the door as another girl pushed M towards Katherine, both of them falling into the cafeteria. The group of people dispersed, leaving so that the witnesses didn't know they were there as well. M put her hands out to catch herself, and Katherine positioned herself so it looked like M tried to attack her, screaming all the while. "Help me! Somebody please! She's crazy; she tried to kill me, like she tried to kill Adam!" M, despite that it was the worst to do in her current situation, lunged at the girl lying on the floor. Katherine screamed, and hands quickly grabbed M's, pulling her away. She stopped struggling, knowing it was useless, and fell limp.

"Got you." Adam hissed into M's ear, and she struggled angrily, but Adam held fast.

"Please!" Katherine cried. "She's not safe; she's going to _really_ kill someone next time!" M quivered in anger, and fought against Adam, kicking him in the shin, but Adam flipped her over, pinning her to the ground.

"She's lying!" M shouted, still fighting. "She's lying, she did it to herself!"

"Someone get Damon and Genevieve!" Adam demanded. He looked away from M, to whoever he was addressing, so M took this time to knee him in the crotch, kicking him in the gut when he tried to grab her again. M turned to flee, aiming for the exit, when Damon walked in through the door she was in front of.

"Someone wanted me?" Damon said, and M froze, despite it all, when he made eye contact with her. Damon's eyes darkened when he figured out what was going on, and his jaw clenched.

M looked up at him helplessly. "Damon, it's not what it looks like." She pleaded, but he ignored her.

"What happened?" Damon addressed Katherine and Adam, the ones who were the supposed 'victims' that M 'attacked mercilessly'.

It wasn't true, she never attacked Katherine, and the previous fight was the only time that M tried to hurt Adam. Katherine was lying. But no one was going to believe M, and now they had enough witnesses to point their lying fingers at her. M looked at the other people in the cafeteria, at least thirty, and they all looked onto the situation with identical expressions of fear and disgust on their faces.

"That girl attacked Katherine!" A man called out, pointing at M. M scowled at him, and he began to quake in fear. "Did you see the look she gave me?" He put a hand against his heart, as if truly scared for his life.

"She stabbed me." Katherine whispered, gesturing towards the knife in her side. "I need a doctor!" She began to sob, crying into a bystander's shoulder, who was whispering comforting words to her.

"Damon, she's lying." M protested. "She did it to herself."

A chorus of objections rang out through the cafeteria, all saying that M was untruthful.

"Please get her out of here." Katherine sobbed. "She's scaring me! She probably has even _more_ weapons and wants to hurt someone else! Please, check her, check her please, I'm so scared!" Katherine wailed.

"Someone get Genevieve." Damon said firmly, and Adam raced off to get her. Damon came up to M, grabbing her arms, and patted her down, looking for weapons. The look on his face when he found the stake was enough to make her shake with grief and hopelessness. It was like a knife to the heart when he lost his trust in her.

"What are you doing with a stake, M?" He said dangerously low, jaw clenched. M paused, not sure how to answer. So she looked away, anywhere to avoid looking at the hurt and betrayal on his face. His grip tightened on her arms. "Where did you get this stake M?!" He shouted, and she shook in fear, cringing away from him.

"It was for self-defense." M answered, her voice steady enough that it even surprised her. At that moment, Genevieve arrived and Damon released her to go up to his mother.

"What's the wound like?" He asked. "Could it be self-inflicted?" Genevieve looked up at M, and her eyes widened, though her expression revealed nothing. But her fists were clenched, and M could only guess that her anger was not directed at the girl lying on the ground with a knife in her side.

"Could be, but it would be really difficult, especially under stress." Genevieve admitted.

M nearly snorted at the comment. Under stress? Katherine manipulated the whole situation right from the very beginning. She planned it out and not for one second did M have the upper hand.

"So it's highly unlikely." Damon muttered and Genevieve nodded. "We'll bring her away." He addressed Katherine and she nodded vigourously, eyeing M warily. Damon came up to M and grabbed her arm, firmly but gently, and dragged her to M's room. M did nothing to resist, because how could she? No one would believe her. So she just followed him dejectedly, eyes trained to the ground. Genevieve came too, a grim frown on her face.

* * *

They made it to M's room, and he slammed the door shut, leaning against the wall wearily. "What the hell did you do?" M looked at Damon, shocked, and upset that he assumed Katherine was telling the truth.

"I didn't do anything!" She protested. "She set it all up!" Damon gave her a look.

"M, there are at least thirty people who will say you attacked her!" Damon shouted, and she shook her head briskly. "I can't protect you this time; they're going to want justice." M threw her hands up.

"For something I didn't do!" M screeched back, getting to her feet. She walked up to Damon, standing in front of him, and she tried to reel in her rage. It wouldn't do her any good. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and she looked down at her feet, anger dissipating. "Please don't lose your trust in me. Believe me."

"I don't know anymore, M." Damon whispered. "I don't know who to believe. But thirty people," He paused, wringing his hands gingerly. "M, they're not going to let you argue that." M nodded dejectedly.

"I know what they're saying, Damon." She sat back down on the bed. "They all think I'm crazy, that I'm working with those filthy vamps." She sighed shakily. "But I'm _not_. If you don't believe anything, please believe that. Whatever anyone says, I am _not_ working for those - those _monsters_ that killed my family."

"If that's what you want us to believe," Genevieve began. "Does that mean you did attack Katherine?" M clenched her jaw, and shook her head fiercely.

"No, I didn't." She repeated herself for the thousandth time. "But no matter how many times I say it, you're still going to believe her. So, do whatever you want, I don't care." Genevieve clenched her fists.

"M, there was a girl with a knife in her side!" She shouted. M looked at her, shocked. Genevieve never raised her voice, and never had the ever raised her voice on M. She felt close to tears, but she held them in. "You shouldn't care whether you'll get in trouble for it. What you should care about is that someone was hurt!" M opened her mouth to protest, but Genevieve held her hand up. "I don't care if it was self-inflicted, because most of the evidence points to an attacker, and the victim points to you as the assailant." Genevieve's voice was dangerously low, and M finally saw where Damon's threatening side came from. She shivered, but didn't give up.

"Please." M begged. She felt the tears pour down when she saw the cold, disappointed look on Genevieve's face. "Please don't leave me. Please believe me, I didn't do it. I don't care if the thirty people think I attacked her. All I care about is that you guys don't lose your trust in me. Please." Genevieve's face softened.

"I don't know anymore, M." She admitted, looking away, jaw clenched. "But, I have to go with the facts."

"Damon?" M asked, not looking at his face. He sighed.

"Genevieve's right, M." He stated. "We can't do anything to prove you're innocent."

"So, it's guilty until proven innocent?" M laughed bitterly, and Damon sighed.

"I'm sorry M." Damon said. "But the majority of the humans in the rebellion saw that you just attacked two members of the rebellion, and Adam and Katherine's friends won't stand for that." Damon sighed.

"What do you mean?" M whispered, but Damon couldn't continue, so Genevieve did.

"We run the rebellion, M." Genevieve's voice was devoid of any emotion, revealing nothing, and M shook with fear. "We can't associate with you anymore, or there will be mutiny."

"You're…kicking me out?" M asked weakly, and Damon clenched his jaw.

"Yes." Genevieve answered. "Out of the rebellion and….out of our lives."

"I can't be friends with you guys anymore." They didn't answer, but neither looked at her, and that was enough of an answer for her. She felt the tears build up, and she hastily wiped them away.

"No." Genevieve said softly. "We can't be friends with you anymore." M looked at her.

"So, this is goodbye then?" M saw a little crack in Genevieve's emotionless façade, but then it was gone.

"Yes." Genevieve came up to M, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry. I just, I just can't, not anymore." She released M and walked towards the door, but she paused in the doorway. "Goodbye, M." And she was gone.

"Damon?" M asked, and he came up to her, wrapping her in a bone crushing hug. M cried.

"I'm so sorry M." He whispered, and she could only sob harder. "I wish there could be another way, but there isn't one." He pulled away, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm sorry, I-" But she cut him off.

"Goodbye." She said, pulling away from him, and Damon let her go reluctantly. M turned away from him; she couldn't bear to look at his distraught expression. "Please. Don't make this harder." Damon nodded, and put on a detached disguise, much like Genevieve did. M choked, and she saw Damon tense at the sound.

"Thanks for being there for me, for all these years." Damon whispered. M continued to stare down at the ground. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, but…. I can't argue with Genevieve." M nodded.

"I know. It's not your fault." She said, because she understood, even if she hated that she did, that it had to be this way. Damon reached out to grab her hand, and she let him, despite it all. He began tracing his fingers along her palm, running them over the bandage on her wrist. He wasn't looking at her, but she could see tears.

"Do you hate us?" He looked up at her, and M sobbed at the expression on his face.

"No. I don't think so." She looked away. "Not you, at least." Damon squeezed her hand, so she looked up.

He nodded. He knew she couldn't quite forgive Genevieve at the moment, and he didn't expect her to, even if Genevieve was his mother. "I don't agree with her decision, but…. I can't argue." M nodded again.

"I know." M assured, and she backed up towards her bed. "Thank you, Damon, for being there for me _,_ for being my friend when no one else would. For being there right from the beginning." She sobbed, looking down at her hands. "Just, please believe me. Even if you can't get anyone else to, please, can _you_ believe me?"

"Of course, M. Always." He started to walk towards her, and stopped in front of her. "Please look at me." When she refused, he gently grabbed her chin, and lifted her head up. "I'm sorry. Please, just remember that I love you, and I'll still be there for you when you need it." M whimpered and pulled her head away.

"You can't say that." She mumbled. "Not anymore." Damon nodded stiffly.

"I know." He whispered. Then he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. "Goodbye Mia."

And he was gone.

"Goodbye Damon." She whispered, "I love you too." But she only said it to the wind, because he was gone.

And that was that.

* * *

"Bonnie."

The redhead turned around, wrapping her friend in a hug. "Oh M." Bonnie comforted. "I heard what happened, well, everyone knows what happened now." Bonnie studied M, eyes scrutinizing. "Are you okay?" M contemplated lying, but she didn't want to, so she didn't.

"No." M admitted weakly, and Bonnie squeezed her tightly. "No, I don't think so."

"Do you want to talk about it?" M paused again, thinking, but she shook her head.

"Talking about it won't fix it." She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she wiped it away.

"Maybe not." Bonnie admitted. "But it might fix how you feel."

"I don't know anymore, Bonnie." M pulled away, lying down on the bed. "Can we talk about something else?" M looked over at her friend. "What about _you_? How are you? I'm not the only one whose life sucks."

"I've been better." Bonnie paused, thinking about it. "Well, I'm sure I've been better, I don't really remember before this." She chuckled darkly. "I guess you can't really miss what you don't know."

"Still, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." M whispered, knowing from experience. "We don't have to talk about your problems, if you don't want." Bonnie shook her head. "Okay then, let's talk about something happy."

And they did.

Well, at least they tried. They were quite good at talking about the happy memories they had, but it just made the sadness seem even heavier. So both girls cried as well, cried for those they lost, the relationships they lost, the life, the love, the experiences, and after a couple of hours, they didn't feel the need to cry anymore.

Turned out, that was exactly what M needed.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter 6

 **5 years later: M: 16, Damon: 17, Elena: 20**

 **So, this is different from my other chapters, in the way that I write. I didn't feel like I was portraying enough of what was going on in M's head, so I made it a bit more 1** **st** **person while still being in 3** **rd** **person. The italicized phrases are supposed to be like the thoughts that pop into your head, out of the blue in reaction to things around you. So she has her inner dialogue, plus the random thoughts that pop into her head. Those thoughts are a little cruder, and slightly bitter, but I figured she's older, and went through a lot, so her thoughts wouldn't be so innocent. And I know this is long, but I also wanted to say that I changed up chapter three, taking out the part about her having depression and PTSD. I just didn't want to write about that when I don't know enough about it, and I always hated those fanfics that talk about mental illness so easily, and making it fix itself so easily, when really it takes a while to heal. So I took it out, and I apologize for being blasé about it in the first place.**

 **Anyways, here's chapter 6**

M sat in the cafeteria, in a corner far from anyone else, and watched everyone. Some were talking quietly, a few laughed a couple of times, but most were staring angrily, or sadly, down at their food. _Don't fight_ , was what the vampires wanted the humans to do, and M sat straighter with pride when she knew that not all obeyed.

Those humans that _fought_ sat with a look of determination on their faces, and held themselves with the attitude that they deserved _better_ than what life doled out, and that they were going to _fight_ for a better life even if it was the last thing they did. Damon and Elena were among those humans, along with Katherine and Adam.

Suddenly, Genevieve came into the cafeteria, and Damon and Elena stopped talking, getting up to follow her. They said something to the others in the rebellion before making their way out.

M looked away before they could catch her watching, and retreated further into the shadows. She leaned back in her chair and fell into her own thoughts, thinking about the past, ignoring the world around her.

After Genevieve and Damon left, days turned into weeks into months, and M found that she was able to cope. With the help of Bonnie, who stayed by her side through all the craziness, she managed to stay afloat.

The silver lining of it all was that now that she was out of the rebellion, it was easier to avoid attention, and keep the vampires from finding out more information about the Alec situation.

Even so, the silver lining still wasn't enough to stop her from resenting their decision.

They threw her in a cell for 12 hours, solitary confinement, and she only got out to go the bathroom and to eat. Some wanted it longer, but that would have drawn attention from the vamps, and no one wanted to involve the vampires, even those who wanted her dead for her so called crimes. Besides, solitary confinement wasn't too bad, it was dark most of the time but it wasn't suffocating. Though, who was she kidding, just because she accepted it didn't mean she was _happy_ about it. She knew it had to happen, that Katherine and Adam and the others wouldn't let it go if she wasn't punished, so she understood why Genevieve let it happen. Why Damon did. Despite that, she would still remember the _anger_ and _hate_ she felt towards them, however fleeting, when she lay there in the dark, too lonely to sleep. No, she wasn't going to let it go, no matter how petty it was to hold a grudge.

Because she thought she mattered more than that, and it hurt to be proven wrong. S _he used to be right_.

M couldn't believe that Genevieve lost her trust in her. M always thought that the mother daughter bond they shared wouldn't fall apart- _why did she have to be so naïve?_ But it did, and she was destroyed, broken, hopeless, because Genevieve left her _first_ , before anyone else. Genevieve was there for her through everything, but like everyone else, she fell for the rumours and the lies. She was the mother that M never got to have, but she lost that, and it hurt her more than she cared to admit.

The real nail in the coffin was when Elena drew away as well. Not as much as Damon and Genevieve, but enough that M could no longer consider her as a confidante, or a best friend.

The only interaction with any of her previous friends was with Rayna. Turned out, Rayna was still hooking up with Kol. He used Rayna to satisfy his lustful and sexual needs. M caught them one day and Rayna pleaded that M keep her mouth shut, and M quickly agreed, not stunned by what she saw as much as she was stunned that Rayna was talking to her. Well, scratch that, the sight _did_ make her want to wash her eyes out, but that was neither here nor there. What surprised her was that a person who was family with Genevieve and Damon, who both cut ties, was interacting with her. It was quite a shock, and M just nodded as she stood there in a daze.

Finally, there was Bonnie, who was completely on her side. At first, Bonnie liked her other, _former_ friends, but that quickly faded. They all left, so they weren't very high on Bonnie's list of people she liked.

Bonnie stayed by M's side, she was the life jacket that M needed to stay afloat and keep herself from drowning. M knew that if she lost Bonnie, she would sink, so she clung to her friend feverishly. She felt bad that she put so much pressure on her one friend, that she was so dependent, but when she brought it up, Bonnie didn't complain, so she let it go. She knew Bonnie did have a martyr complex regarding her friends, and that M's clinginess was tiring Bonnie out, but she couldn't seem to let go even to save Bonnie. Still, Bonnie didn't leave, even when the people had started to spread more rumours and lies.

But of course, Genevieve didn't stick up for her. She didn't care. That made Bonnie quite furious and M had to restrain her witchy friend from using their second stake on the selfless doctor. So Bonnie just had to watch as the woman treated M like she was nothing to her, a mere stranger, despite the fact that they used to share such a strong bond, a mother daughter bond, which was supposed to survive through anything. _But people lie_.

Damon cared, but the first time he tried to stick up for M, people got really angry, threatening the rebellion. So he retreated, simply ignoring the things people said and did. This left Bonnie with quite a few things to say about him, all along the lines of him having to 'grow a pair.' M almost wanted to tell Bonnie off, but it made her laugh, so she went with it. Still, it hurt more than M cared to admit. She tried to keep her friend from seeing her hurt, though it was hard. But she gritted her teeth, and refused to continue to lie awake until 1:00 in the morning, crying herself to sleep. No, she was going to get through it. _Even if it killed her._

Shaking herself back to the present, she focused on the cafeteria, the humans unperturbed by the sudden disappearance of the other three. M was surprised that no one, other than those that were a part of the rebellion, noticed their exit. It was hard to remember that not every human's life revolved around Damon and Elena, unless they were a part of the rebellion and their little clique.

"What the hell are you doing here?" M heard someone shout. It took her minute to realize that whoever was talking was talking to her, and when she did she cowered in fear.

"Please. Katherine, please. Just leave me alone," M whispered.

Katherine sneered. "Hey, do you want to hear a joke?" M didn't acknowledge Katherine but the bully continued anyways. "Why can't orphans play baseball?" M gritted her teeth and willed herself not to lose her temper. Katherine sneered, eyes full of hatred. "It's because they don't know where home is."

M exploded.

She jumped up and punched Katherine straight in the jaw, sending her reeling. Before M could walk up to her, someone grabbed her arm. They squeezed too hard on her wrist and she hissed in pain. The person restraining her leaned their head close to her ear.

"Calm down," They growled. M froze when she realized that it was Damon. She didn't realize he was back in the cafeteria. Her anger spiked- _how dare he pretend to care?_ It was now sent towards him, and she struggled even more. He tightened his grip on her wrists with a threatening snarl, and M whimpered, half in pain and half in fear. She felt Damon wince when he realized he hurt her, and he loosened his grip. Just what she needed.

She knew that he wasn't hurt easily, so she was able to do what she had to do to get free without as much guilt. _Take that, asshole._ She still felt bad hurting her best friend so she winced apologetically as she elbowed him in the gut and broke free from his grasp.

M lunged at Katherine, who was cradling her jaw pathetically, eyes filled with false purity, which was successfully fooling Damon. M's anger spiked even more at Katherine's pretend innocence, and she raised her fists. But Damon once again grabbed her wrists.

And he was royally pissed off.

He jerked her back, jarring her shoulder, and she shuddered in pain. It didn't faze Damon, who was fueled by his anger and embarrassment.

"Get off of me," She hissed. _No good, backstabbing, asshole half-breed, how dare_ -

"No," He snarled out, interrupting her internal rant. M opened her mouth to plead her case, but his cold, indifferent glare caused M to fall limp in submission, but not without one last protest.

"It's not what it looked like!" She said. She tried to stay calm but evidence of anger and hostility laced itself around her words. Damon gave her another bone-chilling death glare. He was getting quite good at them.

"Just get the hell out of here M," He growled. M gave him a betrayed look, but he didn't meet her eyes. He quickly pushed her towards the door. "You've caused enough damage. We don't need you here anymore."

She looked around her and noticed that the other people in the cafeteria were watching her every move, accusing eyes flitting between her and Katherine. _Nosey assholes_. Barely keeping the tears in, she stalked out of the room, but not before M saw the wicked grin that Katherine sent her, a manipulative gleam in her eyes. Making sure that M was watching, Katherine turned to Damon and transformed, feigning innocence and compassion. M was able to see past Katherine's façade and see the evil instead, but Damon couldn't. _Why, that little—_

Fuming, M swiftly and marched out, her head held high even though she was falling apart inside.

She turned around the corner quickly and ran straight into someone, falling back and landing with a jolting thud. She looked up at the person that she crashed into, and saw that it was a vampire. He had midnight hair and an olive-toned pallor, and looked the same age as Damon. She looked quickly down at her feet fearfully.

"Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'll be more careful next time," She mumbled submissively.

"It's fine," The vampire said. "Didn't cause any harm." M raised her head nervously to look into the vampire's black eyes. But she was surprised to find no malice in them, only condescending superiority, which wasn't something M loved, but would take over cruelty. She was thankful that his humanity was on, however. The vampire extended a hand. M looked at it warily, back and forth between his face and his cold hand.

"It's okay," He chuckled. "I don't bite." He shrugged gracefully, and then turned to smirk down at her. "Much." He winked. M shivered, and looked away from his face, down at the flawless hand in front of her. _Dumb pompous vampires_. She knew better than to disobey a vamp, but she couldn't help the disgust.

Seeing as she had no choice, M reached out carefully and grasped his hand, his fingers laced through hers delicately but firmly. He pulled her up quickly and she stumbled, falling into his chest. He smirked at her again and looked into her eyes. M bristled at the obvious show of dominance. _Cocky bastard._

His smile widened, teeth flashing, and M felt shivers race down her spine, much to her chagrin, but she stopped her heart from jumping too much. She shifted and tried to push him away, but he didn't let her go. Her heart sped up in anger but that only seemed to amuse him even more and he held her tighter. His eyes traced down to her lips, then her neck, lingering there longer than the other parts, then her collarbone, then-

M pushed away from him. "I really should be going," She said hastily, biting her lip so she couldn't say what she really wanted to, all along the lines of dirty names- _asshole_. The vampire flashed an easy smirk.

"I'm sure it can wait," He said firmly. M knew better than to argue with a vampire, so she stood still and nodded. _Be a good girl_. "Thank you." He winked at her again and she shivered. Again.

She swallowed thickly. "What's your name?" She asked him confidently. He gave her another smirk.

"Benjamin," He answered and bowed ornamentally. "What is your name?" She looked at him carefully.

"My name's M."

"Em? As in E-M? Does it stand for Emma?"

"No-"

"Emily? Emmy? Emmaline?"

"No it-"

"Really? That's odd. You must have a very unusual name. Are you sure it's not Emma? Or-"

She clapped her hand around his mouth, shushing him, and M immediately regretted the action. _Idiot, idiot!_ Rule number one with living here; don't act like an equal with the vampires. And here she was, acting like she was friends with Benjamin, _joking_ with him. But before she could apologize, his eyes lit up, his body shook with amused laughter. M was puzzled at his lightheartedness, but she shoved it down.

"No!" She laughed, trying to hide her nervousness. "It's M. Just one letter." Benjamin sent her a grin. She made eye contact with Benjamin and she felt her heart speed up; it was the first time she noticed how handsome his face was- _damn it all to hell!_ His chiseled jaw and high cheekbones, twinkling eyes and taunting smirk. His skin had a nice olive-tone, much nicer than the usual alabaster skin, and like all the others, his skin was flawless. His hair was messy, bringing out his youthful face, yet he still managed to look model-like and beautiful.

M thanked the gods that she didn't really blush, but she was sure he heard her heart race, because he sent her a smirk and his eyes roamed down her body. _Pig._ She saw his eyes as they trailed from her face to her lips, down to her neck, where they were quickly filled with hunger, and then down to her chest. M subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself, blocking her body from his ravenous eyes. Licking his lips, he gave her a chilling smirk, and she shivered again, this time out of fear.

"I wouldn't be protecting that part of your body if I were you," Benjamin purred, and his eyes trailed up from her chest and rested directly on her jugular, black eyes like obsidian, gleaming with hunger. She felt her pulse quicken and cursed the adrenaline coursing through her, breathing deeply to slow down her pulse. Benjamin licked his lips again and trembled in anticipation, causing M to step back cautiously.

"You're hungry," M stated. Benjamin did nothing to deny it as he smirked at her, fangs glistening.

"Yes," He purred and breathed deeply. "And you smell so delicious." M knew she couldn't fight him; she was too weak compared to him. Even though it was a major ego wound, she resorted to playing his emotions.

M looked up at him fearfully and sadly, tears glistening in her eyes. "Please. Please don't, Benjamin." M watched as guilt flashed across his face, and his jaw clenched. Seeing this as another opportunity, she continued on. "I know you have emotions, I know you can feel. Please." This time she let out a sob, and let the tears fall. _Goodbye pride_. But, surprisingly, it worked, and M quickly swallowed, holding in the tears.

He bowed his head, and stumbled away from her. "I'm so sorry," He choked out, shaking his head. Before M could respond, he was gone in a second flat, the slight wind the only evidence that he ran away.

* * *

M shuffled down the hallway, eyes cast towards the floor, her thoughts wandered to the memory of the vampire she met a week ago. The young vampire, a boy essentially, looked no older than her, and she puzzled over the easy interaction they had with each other. _Lies, all lies._ Suddenly, she ran into something hard, and she jumped back, startled. Before she could trip over her feet, hands reached out, gently putting her back on her feet.

"M? Sorry about scaring you." M looked up to see Benjamin in front of her, eyes a bright red instead of the black they were the last time she saw him.

She smiled softly. "It's fine." _More lies._ "I'm used to it." And she was. He winced.

"I kind of figured," He blanched. "I'm sorry." M sighed and turned to face him completely.

"I know," She said, rolling her eyes. "You said that already. And I said its fine." Her voice had a slight edge to it, and he seemed to notice, because his eyes flashed dangerously- _oh shit._ She ducked her head, she forgot who she was talking to, and it didn't do well to forget that you were talking to a vampire. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to b-"

He cut her off, "It's okay. I wasn't going to bite your head off for it." His eyes narrowed, and his expression darkened. He leaned towards her, and M subconsciously flinched, backing away. "Just remember who you're talking to. It'll do well to remember who your superiors are." M nodded submissively, and he leaned back.

"I understand," She whispered, her eyes cast down obediently. _Damn them!_

And just like that, he was back to his easy smirk. "You do smell delicious, though." M was still frozen from his sudden change in mood and demeanor, and she didn't know how to answer to that.

"Thanks?" She said meekly, and shifted farther away from him, still intimidated.

His expression turned serious and she began to shake uncomfortably, averting her eyes away from his tense face. "I won't hurt you." He promised. She was still turned away from him. "Look at me," He demanded, and because _he_ was her superior, her only choice was to obey- _she wasn't dumb._ She turned slowly, and met his eyes.

"Why?" He looked confused, but after a few seconds, he nodded in understanding.

"I may enjoy your blood, but I still don't like hurting people," He informed. She still wasn't convinced. "You wouldn't hurt your dog, would you?" M didn't feel very reassured, especially since he referred to her simply as a pet. But that was all she could expect from a vampire. At least he wasn't eating her. "I don't like it here."

"Why don't you just leave?" He looked down at his clenched hands. M panicked, she didn't know it was quite a touchy subject. "You don't have to answer, of course. I'm sorry if I was rude."

"No. It's fine." He breathed deeply, even though vampires didn't need to breathe. "I used to live in a city, in another country, as a human. I worked for my uncle, performing, using my powers to earn money. This vampire, who lives here, was visiting my city, and he found me, and became interested in me, because of my gift. So he snatched me, turning me and bringing me here. Now he believes I owe him a favour, so I can't leave, or he will hunt me down, because I owe him my life."

"Oh," She said bluntly, not sure how to respond. Benjamin fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Yeah," He muttered, and M pondered at his awkwardness. She narrowed her eyes in puzzlement.

"You don't talk to humans, normally, do you?" He shook his head. "I mean, it must be hard to get to know someone when all you see them as is a _pet_ , or _food._ " She said it before she could stop herself and as soon as she thought it; she instantly regretted it, freezing in place. Benjamin's eyes darkened and he smiled, flashing his fangs.

"Careful," He smirked, and M again shook at his change in moods. First he reacted authoritatively, but now, he reacted predatorily. _Figure it out, man!_ He leaned towards her, baring his fangs. "You better watch your mouth. Who knows, one day I might just _eat_ you for your insolence." He leaned back, smirking.

"Yes sir," She said weakly, heart thumping nervously. He ignored her, continuing on.

"You should be glad that it's _me_ you're talking to, I actually _can_ control my anger," He said, winking at her. "If it was Klaus or Rebekah, they'd probably flay you on the spot, in front of an audience." He chuckled, as if they were amusing in their torture. _Sadist._ "Kol would kill you, _slowly_ and _painfully_ , all while laughing sadistically." He sneered again, and paused, thinking about the others. "Elijah, hmm, he's hard. He's oddly ethical even if he _can_ kill without blinking an _eye_. With some sweet talking, like you did yesterday-" Benjamin looked at her, and she couldn't figure out if he was mad or impressed. Still, she shivered fearfully, but he continued, so he must not have been too angry. "-you'd probably get off the hook," He laughed. "The only one that you'd ever want to run into, _but_ only in comparison to the other four, is Finn. You'd have a good chance of not dying."

M nodded. "Good to know," She muttered, and Benjamin smirked down at her condescendingly. M bristled, but kept her mouth shut, not wanting to get punished again for her insubordination.

"Stick with me, and you'll survive the big bad vampires," He sneered. "I've been in the trade for a while now, so I can definitely help." He grinned. "And I _actually_ kind of like you."

"I'm flattered," M deadpanned, barely caring about the consequences. He only smirked, but there was still a little bit more of a dangerous edge to his expression, something that caused M to jump fearfully.

"You're quite sarcastic for a pet," He mused, and M fought down the eye roll.

"It's kind of a character flaw," She snorted. "It isn't really insuring my survival here." Benjamin laughed.

"Definitely not." He grinned, and she saw his fangs glint. She knew what he was thinking. Her sarcasm wasn't ensuring her survival with the vampires. But something was. _Her blood._ "But I like it."

"That was my goal," M said, monotone, and Benjamin flashed his teeth. M felt her heart stutter, but he made no threatening move towards her, so she was hopeful he wasn't angry.

"Good. Your goal should be to please the vampires." M, much to her chagrin, couldn't help it, and she snorted. He raised his eyebrows. "You disagree?"

"Sure," She admitted. "But, I'm just a pet, right? What I think doesn't really matter." Benjamin was silent, so M continued. "We don't have any power to choose here. To choose what happens to us, whether we live or die. The vampires took that away, brutally and violently. And from what I've learned, the one thing that humans truly hate is having their choice taken away. So no, I'm not choosing to live simply for the vampires."

Benjamin moved, and M froze in anticipation of the punishment that she was about to receive. But nothing came, so her eyes flitted up to look at his face, and she was surprised to see a look of amusement. "You're quite interesting, you know that?" He smirked. "Maybe all the nerve you have is the reason you taste this good."

"Don't they always say adrenaline makes you taste better?" She rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I think they say that about cows," Benjamin said easily. He licked his lips as he breathed deeply. "But maybe you're right. Because you're far too delicious to be normal." M chuckled.

"I'd rather be normal," M grumbled, just a little. Benjamin shrugged delicately.

"I think unique taste is ensuring your survival here." Benjamin grinned at her cheekily. "You're far too tasty. There would be a riot if you died and your blood disappeared along with you."

"A riot, you say?" M mused, thinking how easy it would have been to shake the Original's control over the other vampires living here if all she had to do was get them to kill her. _What a martyr._ Benjamin eyed her carefully.

"Now don't get any ideas." He waggled his finger at her, and M snorted.

"Trust me. I have no plans of dying." Benjamin squeezed her shoulder.

"Good." He looked at her wistfully. "You know, you're not too bad for a pet." He sighed. "I miss this, the connection, the feeling of humanity in me when connecting with a human. Whenever I leave for trips out of this place, I can get that connection, but here, here it doesn't feel that way, the humans are way too-" he paused, searching for the word. "-scared." Before M could comment, Benjamin continued. "Of course, they've every right."

M looked over at him. "One way to connect, don't treat them like pets." She raised an eyebrow. "We have feelings, you know." He barely reacted to her boldness, which was a good sign, especially when he simply nodded.

"I know." He looked over at her pleadingly. "And I want you to help me try, to see humans as people again, to see their faces, you know?" He clenched his jaw. "It doesn't feel right, to treat living people like this."

"So," She said carefully. "You want to hear it from me? What I feel?" Benjamin nodded. "Well, vampires killed my parents. You're kind, those vampires you _support_ , killed my parents and my brother in front of my little sister and I. My sister was 6, I was 11, and my brother was 13. And he died, and I was taken away as my sister had to sit there and watch. As they _forced_ her to watch. So, vampires ruined my life."

"I'm sorry." He looked at her, and she almost believed that he was genuinely sorry. But she couldn't let go of the fact that he was a vampire, and that someone could be telling a story like hers, but of him as the monster.

She shuddered, but smiled softly at him. "Don't. You don't have to apologize, it wasn't you." And she was telling the truth. It wasn't him who did it, and it wasn't fair to blame him. She knew it, but it was hard to act on it.

"But it might as well be," Benjamin insisted, his eyes alight with an almost manic look. M shrank back, uneasy, confused with his strange behaviour. _What a weird vampire_.

"What are you doing?" M murmured, looking suspiciously at him.

"Don't be scared." He smiled angelically and M was momentarily dazzled. She stared, open mouthed, at Benjamin, and Benjamin grinned bitterly at her face. "Or maybe you should be. There is a monster right in front of you, talking and luring you in." He leaned closer towards her, his cool breath hitting her face, fangs slightly visible. Despite that, however, she still leaned in, subconsciously drawn to the beauty of his voice, the scent of his breath, and the glitter of his skin. "You find everything about me enticing. My smile, my scent, my beauty. Everything." Benjamin sighed deeply. "And I've always used that to my advantage, even when I already have advanced speed, strength, sight, smell and hearing." He leaned in closer, fangs flashing, but M couldn't do anything to resist, his voice was a siren call, his smell was ambrosia, his beauty was the North Star. She was drawn to him in a way that she wasn't aware of, and only a small part of her was terrified. But finally, that part of her shouted. _Monster!_

She jerked back, away from him. "What the hell just happened?"

"I'm a monster," Benjamin told her simply. "But, I don't want to be, not anymore."

"That's good. The want to be better." M squeezed Benjamin's hand. "The first step is to want to be better. You can change, you don't have to be a monster."

"How?" Benjamin asked softly, and M paused, thinking about it.

She nodded slowly, when she thought of an answer. "When I say better, I don't mean better than other vampires. I mean better than who you were before, because that's the only person you could ever be better than." She looked at Benjamin earnestly. "If you're better than the person you were yesterday, then that's how you know you've changed. Not because you're better than the other vampires, because believing that makes you self-righteous, and that's not a good trait to have. That means you haven't grown, haven't changed, if you still believe you're more valuable than someone else." Benjamin looked at her disbelievingly.

"How'd you get that wise?" He looked at her, an eyebrow raised, and he chuckled softly. M giggled, a breathy laugh, looking down at the ground. _Did she really just giggle?_ And she thought she told herself to be cold.

"Growing up in a world where everyone else was better than me, made me realize that no one is special simply because of what species they are, or who they were born to. Special implies being better than someone else who isn't like you. And that's not right. No one's special, we can't preach equality if we say some people are more special than others. Simply say we're all unique. That will help people realize that they're not better than someone else, no superiority complexes or entitlement." She looked up at him. "But that's not wisdom, it's knowledge, because those are facts, those are what should be."

Benjamin stared at her, eyes alight with some sort of emotion, and he leaned towards her, breath cool against her lips. M's eyes fluttered closed as his lips pressed hard against hers, his lips sweet against her tongue.

Benjamin's arms wrapped around M's waist, his palms against her lower back, and he pulled her closer to his body as she shuddered. Her hands went in his hair, body moving against his, and Benjamin growled lowly, moving his mouth down to her neck. He nipped softly at her skin, which made her yelp in pleasure.

M arched her back, and trembled as Benjamin trailed kisses along her collarbone, hands tracing circles along her body. He slowly moved closer to her until her back was on the ground, and he was on top of her.

Before it could get too heated, M pulled away. "We shouldn't do this," She gasped. "We both have someone else on our mind as we do this. We shouldn't." Benjamin raised his head and looked deeply into her eyes.

"You're right," He murmured, pulling away, and flopping down onto the ground beside her.

"Is she a vampire?" M looked over at Benjamin, and she saw his eyes light up. He smiled sadly.

"No." He turned to her, flashing his teeth. "And she's _married_. Unhappily, of course."

"Go see her," M prompted. "Maybe she'll want to turn, leave her husband, and be with you."

"She loves me," Benjamin said so assuredly, so confident, that M had no doubt that he truly loved her.

"Then do it. Find her." M turned on her side, head propped on her hand. "What's the worst that could happen?" Benjamin mimicked her, going on his side, head on his hand so he could look at her.

"I could eat her," He said somberly. M rolled her eyes.

"You won't. If she's your mate, you won't." Benjamin considered this.

"Thank you," He said sincerely, smile truly happy. He sat up, probably preparing to do just what M suggested. Of course, not without some cheeky remark at her. He turned to her and winked. "And thanks for the great make out session." He smirked, teeth flashing. "You're not a bad kisser."

"Likewise." M smiled. "Anyways, good luck. I hope it turns out." Benjamin smiled softly.

"I do too."

And then he was gone.

* * *

M walked down the hall, for the first time in a while, unafraid of the people around her, and how they would react. Granted, it was because she was no longer friends with one of the most important people in her life, but despite that, M felt the smallest amount of relief when the people who used to antagonize her barely sent her a passing glance. She wasn't a part of the rebellion anymore. She was free, from the hate and the suspicion, and she quite liked it. The rebels felt like justice was served, and even though most were assholes, they weren't _killers_ , and wouldn't kill another human. The vampires already did that. So she was safe, and they were pleased.

All was well. Except, of course, that the vampires still favoured her blood. _Damn bloodsuckers._ She hated that, and she felt the anger rush through her every time she thought about it. And of course, they were out for the blood of the person who killed Alec, and that person just so happened to be her. So that wasn't very well.

But, like most of the time, she pushed that problem to the back of her mind, and began thinking of the new vampire she met. What was with her and meeting vampires? Of course, Benjamin wasn't that bad, and although she hated to admit it, she actually liked him. _Sorry mum and dad._ And she hoped he could be happy. She could practically _hear_ her parents rolling around in their graves, damning the monsters that killed them.

She snorted. Here she was, growing a soft spot for a _vampire_. A creature that most likely favoured her blood as well. She sighed. It was all too complicated.

Suddenly, said vampire appeared in front of her, a bright smile on his face.

M covered her eyes from the blinding light that was coming off his teeth. "Benjamin?"

His smile grew wider. "Hello M." He pulled her swiftly into a hug, startling her. "I must thank you, because you made me finally get my Tia." He looked down at her. "She's wonderful." M smiled up at him.

"Really? That's great Benjamin!" She cheered, hugging him back. "I'm so happy for you."

Benjamin looked off into the distance. "She's beautiful, M. And she's willing to turn into a vampire, so that we can be together forever, and never loose each other." He smiled, closing his eyes. "I want to turn her tonight."

"That soon?" M blushed. "I mean, of course, it's your decision, and I don't have any say in the matter."

"No," Benjamin agreed, eyes flashing, and M recoiled away from him in submission. He saw this, and he looked quickly at the ground. "I'm sorry M. I don't want to sound like an ass."

She went to wave him off. "It's fi-"

"No, it isn't," Benjamin insisted. "I _want_ to see humans as people again. I promised you that."

M studied him carefully. "Really?" _Don't be naïve!_

"Yes, really." Benjamin smiled softly. "I'm sorry I reacted like, well, a no good vampire. I'll try, but I might slip up a few times." Benjamin gave her a pleading look. "But remind me. That you are people, and not just food."

She nodded. "Of course, Benjamin." She smiled. "I'll help you." _How could she say no?_

"Thank you." He smiled at her. "And I'll help you."

"When I'm in trouble?" M asked softly, looking at him carefully.

"Anytime." Benjamin promised. "I have your back."

M smiled. "Thanks." She tilted her head. "So, when do I get to meet her?"

"After I change her, are you comfortable with that?"

She smiled teasingly. "As long as she doesn't try to drink me dry."

Benjamin smiled. "No promises. You're very delicious."

M rolled her eyes. "So I've heard." Benjamin smiled again, before looking away.

"I'm turning her tonight." He looked at her, so she kept her expression straight, revealing nothing.

"I hope you know what you're doing," She said cautiously, not wanting to upset him.

Benjamin clenched his jaw. "I do too. But I think I can bite without drinking her dry."

"You don't just think you won't. You _know_ you won't."

Benjamin was silent. "Yeah. I guess I do." And he was gone.

"Good luck."

* * *

"Mia?"

M looked up and she froze when her gaze locked with Damon's. "Damon." _Why? Why now?_

"How've you been?" He asked, and a smile lightened up his face. M winced, looking away.

"You can't ask that. Not anymore," She whispered, curling into herself. _Don't pretend to care._ Damon flinched, ducking his head, and his remorse was almost enough for her to forget her anger and hurt.

"I know M, I just…" He gritted his teeth, and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." He turned away.

"Wait!" M called out, and he froze, turning his head to the side. He didn't spin completely around, but he didn't go either. He waited. "I've been fine," M finally answered. "Do they…?" Damon shook his head.

"No," He assured her. "They're over it; they've accepted it and moved on." He turned completely around at that point, and he looked at her with utter longing, making her heart pound with grief. "Most have forgotten you were even there in the first place." He smiled bitterly at that, looking away, and M knew what he implied.

"I-" She stuttered. "-We can't talk anymore." _Please disagree._ Damon nodded. She felt a spear of pain.

"Don't worry," He said intensely. "You won't have to worry about us anymore." He finally looked up at her and she couldn't stop herself, she ran to him, jumping into his arms. _She'll always love him_.

His arms locked around her almost instantly, and she felt his mouth against her throat, his face buried there. She did the same, burying into the crook of his neck, feeling safe. "Don't forget me," She whispered.

"Never," He said hoarsely, and she felt his breath on her neck, shivering at the feeling.

And then he was gone.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **4 months later**

M turned around the corner, and promptly walked right into a cold, hard body. She scowled. What was with her annoying habit of running into vampires? It was getting real old, real fast, and quite frankly, she didn't like risking the chance that she'd become a walking blood bag, not that she wasn't one already.

"What the hell?" With her scowl still on her face, she looked up to see the vampire she ran into.

"Well, that's a rude greeting."

She froze and looked up into his dark eyes. "Benjamin?" He laughed.

"The one and only." Then he turned, and held a hand out towards the shadows. M squinted, trying to see what he was looking at, and she could barely make out the shape of a person, though it looked female. The woman walked forwards, taking Benjamin's hand willingly, and came out into the light.

On instinct, M backed away from her red eyes and fangs, but Benjamin quickly grabbed her wrist. "M, wait," He pleaded. She looked at him nervously, before turning back to look at the woman, and finally understood.

"Tia?" She asked, not quite sure who to direct the question to. The woman answered, though.

"Yes," Tia smiled. "And you must be M." M couldn't help the slight eye roll when the vampire stated a very apparent observation if she paid any attention to what Benjamin said earlier. But of course, she fought it down, since she was in the presence of a vampire, a newborn one at that.

"Yes," She simply answered, holding back her sneer. She may kind of tolerated Benjamin, but that didn't mean she liked _vampires_. Not yet, at least. Not when they had taken everything from her.

At that thought, she blushed regretfully, knowing she was blaming the vampires in front of her for the actions of another. She knew it wasn't fair, but at the same time, she couldn't help it.

Tia must have sensed that, because she winced slightly. "I'm sorry, M. This must be terribly awkward for you, talking to a creature you must hate," Tia said, quietly, but confidently. M smiled tentatively at her. It was hard to hate something that was so damn _polite_. But she sure as hell tried. A lot. Even if it only lasted her a few seconds.

 _Damn it_. M smiled at the vampire in front of her. "No, it's okay," She assured her. "You guys aren't bad."

M would have regretted going soft for a vampire, if it wasn't for the genuine smile on Tia's face. "Really?"

M smiled softly. "Yes, really. Benjamin's a good guy. I'm glad he has found you." Tia looked over at the other vampire, a smile of pure bliss on her face. The mates exchanged a smile, before Tia turned back to her.

"Me too," She whispered, and M smiled, a genuine one, at the female vampire.

"I'm glad you have each other," M said, a genuine smile on her face. Tia beamed.

"Thanks M. Your approval means a lot to me." Tia must have seen the look on M's face, because she continued. "I know that seems weird to you, why we value your opinion." Tia looked at her intensely, and M leaned back, too much emotion on the vampire's face. "I was human, just days before. I get it."

M nodded. "Yeah. I guess you do." She was silent for a few seconds, before sighing deeply, and smiling at them. "Well, I should let you get started on doing what mates do with each other." Benjamin winked.

"You know me so well," He drawled, as he gently tilted Tia's head back, kissing her ferociously as she giggled. M slowly backed away, trying to look anywhere but them as their activity quickly started turning R rated.

* * *

"You killed him!" A girl screamed, her bell like voice in dissonance.

"What are you talking about?" M struggled against the vampire girl's grip as her cold hand clenched around M's throat. The girl snarled at her, fangs dripping with venom.

"You killed Alec," She growled, voice low, and M felt her heart speed up in fear. The girl tilted her head. "Your heartbeat sped up when I mentioned him. What's wrong? Are you nervous?" Her eyes were on fire with anger, her black eyes shining in an almost manic manner.

"Who's Alec?" M asked fearfully, and the blonde vampire threw M to the ground. M quickly sat up against the wall, not wanting to be on the ground when an angry vampire was in front of her.

"I'm going to give you one more try, pet, before I tear you limb from limb."

M's eyes flashed. "I didn't do it."

That was when the blonde vampire slapped her, hard on the jaw.

M fell to the ground, ears ringing painfully, and she only managed to keep her eyes open to see a foot flying towards her face before everything went black.

She woke up with a pounding headache and a sore jaw. _Not good._ She wasn't even sure she could open her mouth, let alone talk. She shifted, trying to touch her face so she could assess the damage, but she couldn't move. Panicking, she looked down to see her hands tied to a chair, the rope digging tightly into her flesh.

"You're awake," A voice sneered as the door opened and slammed, as if to show the anger that the person had. M recognized that voice, and it caused dread to creep up her spine. "Now, where were we?"

The vampire was suddenly in front of M, and she could see that it was the girl from before. Her eyes were pitch black, and it caused M to feel a fear deep in her bones. _Not good at all_. Quick as lightening, the vampire had her hand around M's throat, successfully cutting off her air supply. "Tell me where my brother is."

M choked. "I don't know," She managed to wheeze out when the vampire allowed her to breathe.

"Liar. It can be the hard way, or the easy way. Which one do you want?"

M just stared at her, not dignifying that cliché question with a response. Like hell she would reveal anything. She would sooner die. That was the difference between the vampires and the humans. The vampires had the illusion of being immune to death. Humans knew that they could die at any second. So when they were faced with choosing to betray their own kind, or die, they would choose death, since it was coming for them anyways.

When the vampire saw that she wasn't getting anywhere, she huffed angrily, which made M think of a bratty preteen throwing a tantrum. It was almost comical, and it eased a bit of her fear. But only a little.

"Where's my brother?" The girl asked, her voice dangerously calm. M shook her head.

"I don't know," She whispered, and the vampire punched M's shoulder, successfully dislocating her shoulder. M screamed out in pain, and the vampire leaned closer, eyes on fire.

"Where. Is. My. Brother?" The girl asked, and M stared back, panting heavily in pain. "Wh-"

But the vampire was cut off when the door opened silently. All M could hear was the sound of a candle sizzling. The vampire seemed to hear nothing as well. The girl went over to the door, attempting to open it, but Bonnie appeared, revealing herself. "Phasmatos Somnus." She whispered, and the vampire fell to the ground.

Bonnie knelt over the vampire, concentrating for a few seconds, whispering as she held her hands over the vampire's temples, before running over to M and untying the ropes.

"Thank god, I didn't know how I was getting out of that one," M sighed, leaning on Bonnie for support. "What did you do to her?" She glanced over at the unconscious vampire, impressed.

Bonnie smirked. "Oh, I knocked her out and erased her memories," She preened, and M smiled.

"So she won't remember any of this?" M asked, and Bonnie nodded.

"She will forget she ever suspected you," Bonnie reassured her, and M sighed in relief. "C'mon, let's go get some food."

M smiled, taking Bonnie's hand, and they slipped into the cafeteria, sitting down at an inconspicuous table.

But, amidst a good amount of humans, a group of vampires came waltzing in, dragging a bloody and unconscious Genevieve behind them and other members of the rebellion that weren't in the cafeteria. Some people in the rebellion, who were currently sitting in the cafeteria, stood up, enraged. A few humans in the rebellion stayed seated, showing no reaction, because they knew it would reveal them. M looked quickly at Damon and Elena. _Please stay seated, please, please, please._ The vampires grinned, now they knew exactly who they were targeting. Lunging, the vampires grabbed the rebels, including Elena, who cried out at the sight of Genevieve. _No, no, no, no, no!_ M kept her mouth shut, and expression indifferent, knowing that they were trying to weed out the rebels.

"Hello, pretty thing." The vampire that held Elena drawled. "I might just keep you for myself." His voice caused Elena to whimper and Damon to growl fiercely. Now they knew he was a part of it as well. The vampire gave Damon a disproving glance. "Pity you identify with the humans. Would have made a great comrade." The vampire didn't seem too displeased with the fact because he just shrugged apathetically and walked back to the other vampires, Elena in tow.

Some rebels stayed seated, indifferent and cold, trying to protect themselves from the vampires. To M's surprise, they didn't grab Damon. Made sense though, since he was half vampire.

"You all must already know, due to the current events, that you have a traitor in your midst." Klaus sneered, his bell like voice scathing. M saw the remaining rebels, those that weren't caught, tense, but they kept their mouths shut, and didn't react. Neither did the captured rebels, which surprised her, because she knew they thought it was her. M figured they would all point fingers, but she was touched when they revealed nothing. She guessed being a snitch was better than being a vampire. "And now you'll all be punished because of her."

M kept eye contact with Elena, so she saw when Elena's eyes widened with shock and betrayal, and M could do nothing to inform Elena that she wasn't the snitch.

"What are you doing with them?" Damon asked. The vampires had half of the rebels; there were only 25 left from the group now. Damon was the only one concerned. The remaining rebels showed indifference at the fact that their peers were being hauled away, trying to protect themselves. Klaus waved him off.

"The blonde was the leader, and the girl had parents in the rebellion too. They will be killed," He sneered when he saw the rebels stiffen. "And the rest of them will be under constant surveillance and hooked up to IV's for an endless supply of blood until they die." With that said, the vampires hauled the humans out of the cafeteria, meeting little resistance. When the leaders were gone and the vampires knew your plan, how else could you fight?

Once the vampires took the people they wanted away, some of the remaining rebels retreated to their bedrooms, wanting to mourn, and others stayed, too shocked to move, all of them glad that they weren't caught, but grief-stricken that their friends were. But they accepted it, for them, it was just another obstacle. But not for Damon. It was the end of his world, end of his life, in essence. He wasn't looking at her; instead he was sitting on the ground, hunched over as if all the fight was gone from him, all the hope was gone.

Damon turned to M, betrayal and hurt written all over his face it was like reading a book.

"Damon, it was-" M began but she was cut off.

"I don't want to hear it M," Damon said weakly. His voice wasn't angry, but it wasn't friendly either. It was wretched, sad, so sad, defeated and most of all, hurt and vulnerable. M wasn't expecting anything but anger, so she was taken by surprise, leaving her with a lack of words. Before she could open her mouth again, Damon turned away from her in rejection.

"Please Damon. Let me-" But she was cut off again.

"I - I just can't right now M. So please. Just don't," Damon said almost robotically, and closed his eyes tightly, jaw clenched. The emotion towards her- or the lack thereof- caused M to fall to her knees shakily, guilt seeping into her every pore, even though she wasn't the informer.

After a few minutes, Bonnie grabbed her hand, pulling her back up into the chair, and M put on an emotionless mask when Klaus came back in. He grabbed Damon and hauled him away, though she didn't know what was going to happen to him, seeing as his blood wasn't appealing to the vamps. But he was taken away, nevertheless, and M was alone, like she knew was going to happen in the end.

* * *

M was lying on her bed, an hour after the incident with the vampires, and she still couldn't get over her shock that Genevieve and Elena were most likely dead, Damon was captured, and the remaining rebels were disbanded, their strength and hope gone in the wind. M rolled onto her side, thanking Damon, because ultimately, he was the reason she wasn't caught as well. Getting kicked out of the rebellion meant that she no longer was a rebel, meaning her name wasn't given, and that saved her. It was bittersweet, because she lost a friend, but her life was saved. She didn't quite know if she wanted that to be switched, but she was thankful she lived.

All of a sudden, she heard her door creak open slowly, and M sat up, grabbing a stake from under her mattress, holding it tightly, preparing for an attack, or an ambush, or anything else. But it was only Bonnie.

She sighed in relief. "Jesus Bonnie." The redhead smirked.

"Sorry." Then she turned serious. "We have to talk about the rebellion." M nodded.

"Are you and the witch going to try and help?" Bonnie nodded.

"Yes," Bonnie reassured her. "But not from here." M raised an eyebrow. Bonnie paused. "The witch and I are going to escape, and we're going to get other witches to try and help us." M bit her lip.

"Okay," She accepted, nodding slowly. "Be careful." Bonnie looked at her wisely.

"You want to stay here, right?" M thought about lying, but decided against it and nodded.

"I can't- I can't leave them, not like this." Bonnie nodded in understanding. "Besides, you're going to need eyes and ears on the inside if you're planning a jail break." The redhead's eyes lit up in remembrance.

"Here." She gave M a necklace. It was a beautiful, old silver chain with a lapis lazuli stone surrounded by a floral design of metal. The stone was the size of her thumb nail, and smelled similar to rose. "It has vervian in it. That means you can't be compelled by vampires." M nodded. "Plus, the stone has a magical property. I used your genes from a strand of your hair, and I kind of 'coded' it to the stone, meaning I can contact you when you hold it."

"Just me?" M asked, and Bonnie nodded. She took the necklace, and held the stone in her hand.

"You have to be holding it, like this, and when you do, I can communicate with you telepathically."

M smiled. "Cool." Bonnie smiled sadly so M brought her into a bone-crushing hug. "When do you leave?" She choked out, and she felt the tears stream down her face.

"In a week." Bonnie sobbed herself, but M nodded, relieved that she still had a time with her best friend. "Until then, I'm going to stick by your side, okay?" M chuckled.

"Okay." M smiled. "Before we discuss battle plans, let's go eat." Bonnie laughed.

"Okay."

* * *

They made their way into the cafeteria, when in walked Rayna. M and Bonnie exchanged a look when Kol entered as well and sauntered over to Rayna, grabbing her ass, pulling her towards him as he smashed his lips to hers, hands grabbing violently at her body. Enraged, M walked over to Kol and pulled him off of Rayna. He spun around to face M, an easy smirk on his face, but M punched him straight in the jaw, causing him to stumble. His blazing red eyes turned to look up at M in anger, his hand cupped around his jaw.

"Stupid idea, pet." He hissed. He sent her a feral snarl, fangs out. He lunged at her but a blur quickly intercepted, grabbing Kol by the neck, and throwing him against a wall.

"Leave her alone!" Benjamin snarled lowly and threateningly. M felt herself shiver fearfully. This was her third or fourth time seeing Benjamin when he actually looked like a vampire, but still, it scared her senseless. Despite her fear, M went to stand beside Benjamin.

"Don't get involved peasant. You're not a part of it." Kol spit out, walking towards them. Benjamin quickly grabbed M and held her against his body, arms wrapped protectively around her. Kol started to walk faster towards them, snarling, and M leaned into Benjamin, shivering in fear. She felt him tremble as a low growl escaped through his clenched teeth.

"Kol that is quite enough," A commanding voice ran out through the cafeteria and the elegant Elijah came over, gripping Kol's shoulders tightly. "Good day."

And then the vampires were gone, and Benjamin had her in a hug instantly.

"Shit, M, why do you have to do such stupid things?" Benjamin cursed. M simply shrugged. It wasn't her fault Kol was such a douche. Benjamin grabbed her chin, studying her carefully. "Are you okay?" M breathed a laugh.

"That word isn't really in my vocabulary, Benjamin," She said, before smiling up at him. "Thank you for saving me." Benjamin simply smiled down at her. "I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'm quite tired." Pulling away, she turned to Bonnie, and the red head gave her a soft smile. "Thank you, Benjamin."

Rayna followed Bonnie and M to M's room, and the redhead exchanged a look with M, both worried for the emotionally unstable girl in front of them. How were they going to handle her? They were barely there emotionally as well. M felt an irrational spike of anger at the older girl, angry that she expected M to be able to take care of her, to comfort her. But M shoved that feeling down with practiced ease, refusing to let the emotion take root. M went back to studying Damon's adoptive sister.

Rayna looked frail and small, like the world was sitting on her shoulders, making her face pinched and painful. Guilt was practically radiating away from Rayna, sucking up the oxygen in the room and left M gasping for breath. Turning around once they were in front of M's door, Rayna caught M's eyes and apologies flowed out of her like a river. M walked over to her and gave her a tight hug, despite the situation. Something caught her eye, however, and she gasped. It was Katherine. (A/N Katherine and Elena aren't doppelgängers in my story). Most surprisingly though, was that Katherine was a vampire.

"Long time no see." Katherine sneered. M gaped at her, her eyes filled with anger. _No bloody way._

"What the hell did you do?!" M hissed and reached out to slap Katherine but Bonnie quickly restrained her, keeping a firm hold, even though she was shaking in anger at the same time that she was helping M contain hers. Katherine tilted her head, seeming to ponder M's question, and that made M even more annoyed.

"Let's see. Use backstabbing as a way to immortality. Check. Use said immortality to black mail Rayna. Check. Make Rayna, with the help of Kol, give names. Check. Threaten. Murder. Torture. Check." Katherine smiled evilly, no humanity left in her eyes. "Basically, I'm a monster." M just shook her head, knowing that there was no way she could reason with a vampire that flipped their switch.

"Why?" That was all M could manage to say. Katherine shrugged nonchalantly.

"Survival. I knew that they'd keep Rayna because she had better access to information they needed, being related to the leader of the rebellion and all. Mind you, I was a part of it as well, but not as connected, and I knew they wouldn't want me, since they had Rayna. So, I seduced a vampire, and got their venom, changing myself."

"You bitch!" Bonnie cried, but before she could lunge, M grabbed her arms, pulling her back. Once M was sure that the redhead was unable to attack, she turned her attention back to Katherine.

"Why did you turn it off?" M asked carefully. Katherine's eyes hardened.

"I wasn't young when I was kidnapped. I was old enough to remember every gruesome little detail of my family's death." She shrugged easily, as if she was simply talking about a movie she previously watched. Like it wasn't a real event, like she watched the murders of her family for amusement. "I didn't want the feelings anymore, so I turned it off." M looked at Rayna, confused.

"How do you play in with Rayna?" M asked. Katherine threw her head back, laughing. When she looked back at M, her eyes were mocking and cruel.

"Oh this is a good one. Basically, I suggested to Kol that he should threaten to hurt her. Badly. And he agreed!" Katherine giggled. "Great right? And of course Kol and I tortured her." She waved her hand dismissively, causing M to balk. Rayna began to shake, which made Katherine's grin get even wider.

"But the best idea, which me and Kol came up with together, was to threaten to kill everyone she knew, unless she gave names." Katherine said, expression gloating. "I bet you can guess what she chose." Katherine smirked, eyes glistening sadistically and M began to shake angrily.

This time when Bonnie lunged, M did nothing to stop her, and Bonnie's fist almost connected with Katherine's jaw. But Katherine stepped back in time and grabbed Bonnie by the wrist, slamming her down to the ground, and Bonnie hit her head, hard. She cried out, and M rushed to her friend's side, but she could see the red head losing consciousness. Katherine got up, watching Bonnie scathingly.

"Silly Bonnie." Katherine sneered. "I'm a vampire, remember? I'm _stronger_ than you, and I can kill you now," Katherine said like she was talking to a child. She leaned against the wall casually, like they were having an easy conversation. "I never expected how _thirsty_ I'd be when I changed. I mean, I knew the thirst was strong, but it was quite surprising, you know? Like, the hunger just _controlled_ in me, so I had no choice but to _kill._ But god, it felt so good when I crushed those human's necks, and felt the blood flow down my throat." Katherine licked her lips, eyes flashing sinisterly. "And I would love to kill a couple more." Katherine snarled, grabbing M by the neck.

"Wait!" M choked out, pushing Katherine away from her. "Wait. You can't kill me." Katherine paused.

"Hmm. I guess you're right." Kathrine shrugged, releasing the pressure. "If I kill you, the Originals would be on my ass." Katherine grabbed M's chin, studying her. "But just a taste couldn't be _too_ bad, huh?"

"Yes. It would," M tried again. "Tainted blood and all."

"I'll suck out the venom." Katherine rolled her eyes. She smiled. "Maybe I'll just _change_ you instead."

And she bit.

M tried to scream, but Katherine's hand was covering her mouth, and she could barely choke. Katherine's fangs dug into her neck, and it was like no pain she had ever felt before. It was like a thousand knives were plunged into her neck, and her head ached from blood loss. After what felt like forever, Katherine pulled away.

"Don't scream too loud," Katherine whispered in M's ear as the girl thrashed on the ground from the pain of the venom as it slowly made its way through her veins.

* * *

Rayna looked at her tearfully, and M watched her kneel down. "I'm so sorry M. It was me."

M couldn't respond, partly because she was too shocked, and partly because she was trying to stop herself from screaming. Finally, she was able to speak. "It's okay," M rasped.

Rayna shook her head. "No, it isn't."

M opened her mouth, trying to respond, but instead, she vomited up a fountain of blood. Rayna screamed, backing away for a few seconds, before her doctor skills that she learned from Genevieve kicked in, and she turned M onto her side, so that M wouldn't choke.

M coughed roughly, and the more blood she vomited up, less the pain was. Eventually, the pain was down to nothing, and M slowly closed her eyes, heading into the land of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Wake up, human," A voice hissed, and M opened her bleary eyes, sore and confused.

"What?" She whispered, turning her head, and her eye landed on a very familiar boy. "Damon?" But someone stepped into her line of sight.

"Where is she?" Klaus hissed. M blinked. "Don't play dumb, human, we've finally figured it out. You know where my witch went. Where is she?"

"I don't know."

Klaus grinned. "You do." He knelt down beside her but she simply glared. "Maybe you need some motivation."

That was when the pain and the screaming began.

* * *

"You're still not breaking!" Klaus said, astonished. "Do you not care about yourself?" M was silent. He stared at her, a grin spreading across his face. "You don't. You don't care if you're hurt." He caressed her cheek, and she fought the flinch. "What about your loved ones?"

Before she could say anything, he was gone. After only a few minutes, Klaus was back, and dragged Genevieve and Elena in.

Damon froze in shock at the sight of those he thought were dead because of M. Kol was still holding him down, but that didn't stop the smile from bursting across his face, and it didn't stop the overjoyed sobs coming from Elena.

"What a happy reunion, isn't it?" Klaus smirked, and he grabbed Genevieve's arms, bringing his lips up to her neck. "We don't want it to end badly, do we?" The smile was gone from Damon's face, and his eyes flashed dangerously, a growl ripping its way up his throat.

"Let them go," Damon snarled, and Klaus laughed.

"You're making demands now, are you?" He sneered. "I don't think so." He snarled and lunged at Damon, but Elijah grabbed him, stopping his attack.

"You can save your friends, child, but you must give us what we want," Elijah addressed M, and she clenched her jaw. "Where is the witch?" M paused, trying to delay their plan, trying to see if he was bluffing. Klaus's hands tightened around Genevieve's head, but M kept her mouth shut trying to decide. Elijah's hands squeezed M's arms in warning, and she winced. "Decide." His eyes flashed impatiently.

Before she could say anything, before she could decide what to do, Klaus smiled. "Too late."

And he snapped Genevieve's neck.

Genevieve fell to the ground, and Damon looked on shocked, as well as M, both struggling to believe it was true. That Genevieve was dead. Elena fell to her knees, crying out, and Klaus quickly grabbed her throat.

M thrashed against Elijah, kicking him in the shins at the sight of Elena. Before M could get far, he grabbed her shoulders, slamming her onto the ground, and she cried out, still struggling, still trying to get to her friends. M kicked him in the gut, and to her surprise, he pulled back, ever so slightly. She scrambled away from him and turned towards her friends but he was in front of her again, eyes glistening murderously, fangs out. He lunged and grabbed M by her neck, so she started to choke.

"Damon!" Elena cried, and Damon tried to break Kol's grip, but it was no use.

"Please!" M screamed chokingly. "Don't do this!" Elijah's hands tightened around her neck, and he leaned in. M flinched fearfully, pulling away from him as much as she could.

"Don't make this harder, M," He hissed, and she shuddered fearfully. His fangs scraped her neck, so she stopped struggling, knowing it was useless.

All they could do was watch as Klaus grabbed Elena's head, snapping her neck.

M watched her lifeless body fall to the ground and watched as Damon fell to the ground listlessly, eyes vacant, expression distraught. Klaus grabbed his chin, turning his face to look up at him.

"It hurts to lose your loved ones, doesn't it?" Klaus sneered, and Damon snarled back.

"Go to hell," Damon hissed, but Klaus ignored him, simply walking away.

"You know, it could all go away. The pain, that is." He turned and smiled at Damon.

"No." Klaus frowned.

"Turn it off," He commanded, and Damon growled in response, so Klaus vamped up to him, grabbing him by the throat, fangs flashing. "Turn it off!" She saw Damon freeze; he was powerless against the command.

"No!" M shouted, but it was no use. Klaus compelled him, and there was no way that Damon could fight it. M shuddered as she watched Damon close his eyes, and she fell limp, giving up, when she saw the emotions gone from his face when he opened his eyes. He smiled sickeningly and licked his lips.

Klaus smiled when he saw this, and he walked away, Elijah and Kol following. The door slammed, and M barely acknowledged it, her being purely focused on the vampire in front of her.

"Damon?" His eyes flickered up to hers, and she shuddered at the lack of emotion in his eyes.

He was gone.

* * *

"M? M!" A voice shouted, and she groaned, trying to swat them away. "God damn it, M, I thought you said you weren't going to do anything stupid!"

M blinked. "Benjamin?" She heard a huff.

"Yes, idiot. Come on, Tia and I are going to break you out." M shuffled.

"Damon too."

"Fine, him too," Benjamin said impatiently. "Here." He handed her something. "It's a bomb. Blow the wall out, the east wall, it opens to the forest. Do it a minute after we leave, okay?" M nodded. "Good." He kissed her on the head. "Good luck M, maybe we'll meet again one day. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't."

Then he was gone.

M counted 60 seconds, before she rushed over to the wall. She should have been slightly alarmed that she was used to setting up bombs so easily, it came naturally, but she wasn't and she worked with surprising efficiency. Before it could blow up, she grabbed the unconscious Damon, and they both got the hell out of there.

* * *

Upon waking up, Damon gave her one cold glare, before telling her not to talk, and he began walking away. M rushed to follow.

"Damon I'm-"

"Didn't I tell you not to talk?" Damon snarled, turning around to face her. M clenched her jaw and nodded, eyes cast to the ground. He walked up to her, grabbing her by the chin, forcing her to look into his emotionless eyes. "Answer me." She nodded again, but his hands tightened around her chin, so she knew it wasn't what he was looking for. Well, what _did_ he want? Anger flashed in her and she scowled.

"I don't know what you're expecting, you _just_ told me not to talk," M hissed. Bad move.

He snarled. "Yeah, but now I told you to answer me." He squeezed her chin, and leaned closer, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Did I say you could talk?" Damon enunciated every word, and M bristled at the tone, but she still felt the tears build up as she looked into her best friend's eyes that no longer held any love, compassion or kindness that they previously had. But she blinked them back, and turned it quickly to anger.

"Go to hell," She answered, twisting out of his grasp, and shoving him away. He barely moved since she didn't push too hard, and he threw his head back laughing, before coming back towards her.

"I already am." He reached out and touched her face, fingers brushing lightly against her cheek. M froze, unsure of what he was planning, but he simply stared at her, eyes trailing along her body. She trembled fearfully, because despite the gentle touch, his face remained cold, and his eyes held no emotion.

"Damon?" M questioned softly, and he looked up, eyes hard. "You don't have to do this."

"No," He admitted. Then he gave her a sickeningly evil smile that caused shivers to race down her spine, her hair standing on edge. "But I want to." He walked up to her, and grabbed her by the chin, studying her carefully. "I know I used to care about you, about them." He shoved her head away roughly, and she stayed frozen, staring at the ground. "But I don't anymore." He inhaled. "I am hungry though, and a plus in killing you, is that you were the reason why the people I loved died. You made me turn it off." He grabbed her by the shoulders.

M bristled, and pushed him roughly in the chest, sending him stumbling back. "I did not," She snarled. "None of this was my fault. Do you think I wanted this to happen? Of course not! But I didn't have a _choice_! Do you really think they'd keep their word? No matter what I said, they would have killed Elena and Genevieve either way." Damon stalked towards her, poker faced, eyes calculating.

"You don't get to say their names," He said, and M saw a flash of hurt, regret and even some love, on his face, for them. She perked up, despite everything, at the glimpse of emotion in him. M dreaded it, dreaded taking the risk, but she knew Elena and Genevieve was his emotional trigger, so she kept him thinking about them.

"I loved them too," She whispered. "I love them." She sighed. "And I know you do too."

"You're wrong," He said lowly. "I don't feel anything. For them." He looked up at her, eyes piercing. "For _you_." He stalked towards her, flashing his fangs, eyes dark and cruel. She panicked, but tried to keep him talking.

"No, I'm not," She persisted. "You loved them. You still do. I know you do." She walked slowly towards him. "Behind that mask, behind the wall you have up, you _still_ care." She was down to a whisper, her hand against his chest carefully. He hesitated in his advance, eyes on anything but her. "Please fight for that, Damon."

"I don't think I can," He admitted, almost vulnerably, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"Then fight for them." M grabbed his chin gently, turning his head so that their eyes connected. "Fight for Genevieve and Elena, for your love for them." His eyes were an emotional storm. He paused, regarding her carefully, but before she could have any hope, he wrenched his head away, breathing heavily.

"You don't get to say their names," He repeated, but this time more dangerously. M faltered, scared of him for real now, scared of his unstable emotional state. "Not theirs. Not anymore. Not after everything."

M backed away, but she clenched her jaw. "It wasn't my fault." He snarled, whipping his head up.

"Like hell it wasn't your fault!" He hissed. "They're dead because of _you_!" M felt a sliver of hope spring into her chest. He was angry, but that showed he cared. Maybe not about her, but about them.

Maybe it was enough to get his humanity back.

"No," She said easily. "They're dead because of Klaus. Not me." She shook her head but never lost eye contact. "I didn't have a _choice_ , I couldn't give Bonnie away." Damon shook his head in slow anger.

"It's not always about you!" Damon growled. "Bonnie was in no danger at that time if you gave her away. But Genevieve and Elena? They were at the risk of _dying._ Dying M! And you still chose yourself!"

"You can't look down on me for choosing myself," M pointed out calmly.

"I was doing it for the greater good!" Damon snarled. "What about Bonnie? Was protecting her for the greater good? She ran away! She _ran_ and didn't bother to get us out as well! That was a selfish move."

"You know nothing, Damon. You know nothing of the full story!" M bristled, her anger flashing through her serene facade. She breathed deeply to calm herself. "She ran away to _help_ us, because she knew that staying in that god forsaken place wasn't making her any stronger." M was back to her nonchalant facade. She walked up to Damon, eyes maintaining contact, and she smiled pityingly. "But you're like everyone else, Damon. You make assumptions before you get the full story, and you act out on that, even when you're wrong."

"That doesn't matter," Damon said, but almost vulnerably now. "They're still dead. Despite it all, they died." He nearly choked at the end, and her heart quickened at the thought that maybe he was feeling something. But his eyes grew cold, and there was still no emotion in his face. "And I'm still hungry." He vamped up to just in front of her, but before he could lunge, she slammed a stake in his side. Well, tried to. He dodged, and the stake only nicked his gut, letting him grab it out of her hands. "You missed." He growled.

And that was when he lunged.

M's body slammed to the ground, causing her head to pound painfully. His body landed on top of M's and he held her wrists, pinning M to the ground. She struggled and kicked, but to no avail. He was stronger than her on normal days and since he had no humanity, he wasn't holding back.

His teeth were bared, fangs out, and saliva dripped out of his mouth, landing on M's neck. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but be grossed out that Damon was salivating because of her blood. It sucked. Literally.

He plunged his teeth into her neck and she screamed; it felt like a thousand knives stabbing her in the throat repeatedly. Don't believe a single word in vampire books, there was nothing sexual about having your blood sucked out of your body. It was just plain repulsive and degrading.

All those thoughts ran through M's head as Damon drank her dry. Suddenly, she heard a loud thud and Damon's head cracked dangerously to the side. He fell off of her, so she kicked him away, and then looked to see who did it. M saw that Rayna had hit Damon again in the head, breaking his neck, knocking him unconscious. He would heal though, since he was half vampire, gradually becoming a full vampire.

But Rayna previously wanted nothing to do with her. Why did she change her mind? M stumbled towards Rayna, and the other girl caught M gently, wiping the blood away, tenderly, like a friend. It was all too strange, so M laughed but it came out as a choke, shocking her. Was it that bad? Did he actually get that much?

M didn't have that long to ponder this because Rayna grabbed M's hands and spun her around. Rayna pushed M in the direction of the forest.

"Run! You don't have much time," Rayna pleaded, glancing over at Damon. M didn't have to be told twice and she ran into the woods, not planning just running.

She was not quite sure whether it was blood loss or her head injury, but the world started to tilt and she saw double. However, she kept running, because M knew once Damon woke up, he would kill her.

M eventually found a cave and she crawled in there, her vision clearing already now that she was sitting. M ripped the bottom of her shirt and held it to her neck to stop the blood flow. After about 10 minutes, it finally stopped. M's head was heavy and pounding and her abdomen was aching from where he slammed her into the ground. Not to mention her neck felt like someone was sawing through it.

M tried to fall asleep, but the aching in her neck wasn't going away, and a stabbing pain kept radiating up her abdomen, along her ribs. She let out a sob, and curled up onto her side, gritting her teeth as she endured it.

"Oh Mia," A bell like voice whispered, hanging onto a thin thread of control. Startled, M looked up into the red eyes of a vampire. As a knee-jerk reaction, M screamed and pushed herself away, backing up quickly, fear the only thing dominating her mind.

"Now look what you've done," A different voice said, just as strained, like their control was moments from breaking. There was a whooshing sound, and a gentle hand caressed her shoulder. "Don't be scared sweetheart."

M lifted her head at that and looked into another pair of red eyes, which made her cry out in terror again and made her body start to shake. M looked fearfully at the vampire in front of her but she gasped when she realized who it was. Crying with joy that time, M hurled herself into the arms of the waiting vampire.

"I can't believe it's you!" M cried looking up at Genevieve's smiling face. She looked very beautiful, all the age lines were gone and she looked ten years younger, like she was 25 now. M turned to look at her face but pulled away when she saw Genevieve's eyes. The red was a little disturbing, especially since red eyes meant drinking human blood. M shivered, cringing unintentionally. Not just that, Genevieve looked strange, like she wasn't completely in control of herself, her emotions were all over the place.

"No hug for me?" The other vampire said and M turned to see Elena. She smiled and leaped at Elena. Elena's arms wrapped around M and she hugged her tightly. Elena was surprisingly stiff and M realized that her blood must smell delicious. She pulled away to send her a sheepish grin, but what she saw caused her grin to falter. Elena's eyes were cold and hard. It looked like half of her was fighting with the other half and the part of her that was cold and predatory was winning. M cringed in fear, stumbling away from her former best friend.

Elena's lips pulled back from her teeth and she snarled, crouching down. "You smell delicious." Elena purred. She tilted her head. "Did you know that?" M gave her friend a frightened look and shook her head, not trusting that her voice wouldn't shake. But she had to say something.

"Why are you doing this?" M asked weakly, and she watched as Elena backpedaled, emotions raging on her face, and stood up, getting out of her hunting crouch. Elena leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting, and put her head on her knees. M still looked at Elena warily, and her gaze flittered over to Genevieve, just as cautiously. But she went over to Elena anyways, sitting down beside her friend.

"They compelled us," Elena whispered, looking grimly over at M. She was surprised that she answered.

"Who? The Originals?" Elena nodded. M felt her heart race in fear, and her eyes darted around nervously. "Are they here right now? Do they know?" Elena shook her head, and M relaxed slightly. "Please don't tell them." Elena nodded, promising. "Are you going to hurt me?"

"Most certainly, M," Elena whispered. She closed her eyes. "They compelled me to turn it off. And it's taking everything in me to fight it. I can _feel_ my emotions dissolving. Even now, they're fading." Elena's jaw clenched and she began to breathe heavily, making M back farther away.

"Why you?" Elena didn't look like she could answer, so Genevieve spoke up.

"As punishment. We cared so much about humans, we fought against the vampires. What better punishment than to make us stop caring?" Genevieve sighed. "So we ran, and we fought the compulsion as long as we could, and we found you. But we're losing, M. We have to turn it off."

"Why haven't you yet?" M asked weakly, and Genevieve clenched her fists.

"We're fighting it," Genevieve said through clenched teeth. "The scent isn't helping." Genevieve smiled at her softly. "But talking does. Talking to you, reminding ourselves why we care, and enforcing that feeling, enforcing that humanity, it delays the compulsion, in a way. But it won't for long."

Elena, who was still sitting there on the ground, head on her knees, finally stopped shaking, and she stilled. She started to laugh, raising her head, and what M saw terrified her, because it was no longer Elena sitting in front of her. It was a monster, Elena was gone. "Not long at all, Genevieve." Genevieve's jaw clenched.

"No," She said weakly, but still shook with exhaustion at fighting the compulsion. Elena smiled.

"Yes." Elena walked over to them, fangs glistening. "It's so much easier Genevieve. No more grief. No more guilt for eating those humans." Elena turned to look at M, and her eyes glowed cruelly. "No guilt from thinking of the things we might do to her." Elena laughed when M whimpered in fear. "Turn it off."

"No," Genevieve snarled, deep from within her chest. But despite it all, M could see her slipping. She could see as her emotions started to fade, like they did with Elena. And M couldn't stop herself from crying at the thought that the selfless doctor was about to lose her humanity. Elena glowered angrily.

"Turn it off!" She growled, as she pinned Genevieve against the wall. Genevieve shook her head mutely. "Come on, Gen, it's not that hard. What're you so afraid of? Let go!" Elena giggled. "It's quite amazing. The exhilaration. Not having to care about anyone, anything." Elena leaned in to Genevieve's ear. "I know you want to. Come on, embrace your vampire side. Then we can take what we want, we can get all the blood we want." Elena backed away, giggling, and then all of a sudden, she was behind M. M froze fearfully, shaking as she felt Elena pull her hair away from her neck and lean in, fangs scraping her skin.

"Let her go," Genevieve said weakly. Elena only smiled.

"Turn it off. Let go." Elena brushed her fingers against the blood on M's neck, before walking over to Genevieve. Elena brushed her thumb against Genevieve's lip, staining it with M's blood. Genevieve shuddered and closed her eyes, veins darkening, fangs flashing. "She smells delicious, don't you think?" Genevieve tensed, and M could see her humanity slowly slip through her fingers. When she opened her eyes, Genevieve was gone. "Well?"

"We can't kill her," Genevieve said, crossing her arms. "Klaus would be angry, and I can't drink from her, you know I'll lose control. And if I do, I might kill her, and I don't want to get in trouble with him."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you don't want her, I'll take her."

M stumbled back, terrified, because Elena was now smiling cruelly at her, with a look of hunger on her face that was so out of place for her compassionate friend. Elena lunged and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling M towards her. M felt her fangs press hard against her throat, causing pain to shoot down her neck, but soon it was gone.

"Elena, stop it," Genevieve demanded, before turning her cold eyes on M. She shivered, and felt the tears pour down her face. Closing her eyes even though she knew it was dumb, she turned away from the vampire in front of her and brought her knees to her chest. Genevieve grabbed M's chin roughly.

"Look at me," Genevieve growled, tilting M's head back. M whimpered due to her injury on her neck. It was still tender and when Genevieve jerked her head back, it caused it to bleed. A drop of blood rolled down M's neck and she caught Genevieve's eye. The bloodlust in the doctor's eye nearly made M go into hysterics but she kept calm, only letting a single tear roll down her cheek. "Stop crying." Genevieve snarled.

"I wasn't crying," M snapped, even when she could feel the tears in her eyes still. Genevieve closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

She stood up quickly. "Goodbye, M."

And Genevieve and Elena were gone.

* * *

 **Damon's POV**

He opened his eyes and all he felt was the burning hunger in his veins, the taste of sweet blood a memory on his lips. Jumping up, he crouched, snarling, looking for his prey. Rayna looked at her brother, her humanity-less brother, fully and truly a vampire. Damon looked over at his sister at the sound of a fearful gasp, seeing her with wide and frightened eyes. He felt a stab of remorse when he saw the stick in her hand that she was using as a weapon. Damon felt a flash of guilt, but it soon faded, and all he felt was raging hunger.

"Where's M?" He asked, ignoring the stab of emotions that the sight of his sister made him feel. His voice came out colder than even he expected, especially with the contrasting emotions coursing through him. Rayna shivered and looked down at her feet. When she looked back up at him, her eyes were hard and determined.

"I don't know," She hissed out. Damon glared at her and took a step towards her. Fear flashed in her eyes and she raised the stick in her hands causing Damon to raise an eyebrow. He didn't expect that she'd fight back, she was never one to stand up for herself, the fling she had with Kol was a great example of that.

"Wow. I can't decide if you're strong, or just stupid," Damon drawled. He vamped up to her, grabbing the stick from her hands and throwing it to the ground. Rayna struggled uselessly as he grabbed her neck, and he felt a stab of guilt as fear flashed in her eyes. But he shoved it down, because he knew that letting it in would mean letting in the grief. "But you forget who you're talking to." Rayna spat in his face angrily.

"Look at you!" She shouted. "Listen to yourself! You're acting like them, all superior and above everyone else!" She kneed him in the crotch, causing him to release her neck. "I'm _not_ your inferior! I'm your sister! Does that mean anything to you anymore?" She shoved him roughly, and he stared at the ground.

"Deep down, I bet it does," Damon said softly, feigning emotions. "But I'm really hungry."

"No." Rayna burst into tears, and Damon froze. Even with his emotions off, he still had no idea how to handle a crying female. Teen ones at that. "I refuse to believe that. I refuse to believe that there isn't something left of you." Rayna grabbed his chin. "Please Damon. Come back to us. Can't you see what you've become?" She sobbed into his shoulder, despite it all, and he couldn't stop the love he had for his sister from seeping into his heart. "You've hurt your best friend, Damon. And I know that means something to you, I know you love her." _M_. He remembered loving her, but he also remembered what she did, how she betrayed them, and chose Bonnie over Genevieve and Elena. "Remember when you first saw her? When she was only a child? You were the first one she really enjoyed talking to, she told me that. And I think you enjoyed talking to her as well, didn't you? You can't deny that what you feel for her is buried in deep. And even with your emotions off, you can't deny what you feel."

"I-I-" He stuttered, trying to protest, but he couldn't form words, couldn't fight off the emotions swirling in him as Rayna talked. And even though it scared him, it felt good.

"You can't," Rayna insisted. "You love her, you care about her. But you hurt her Damon." He looked down at his sister, dazed and shocked. "You hurt her real bad. And I don't know if you can fix it anymore." Damon licked his lips nervously, and he felt his throat burn at the taste. But he also felt the guilt burn in him as well. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he felt the emotions swirling inside him. He fell to his knees.

"No," Damon insisted. "No. That can't be true."

"Yes it is." Rayna's eyes hardened, her face turning serious, no longer wanting to play nice. "You hurt your friend, asshole. You hurt her when you promised never to do that. You're a monster, and to her, you will be for a while." She punched him in the chest, tears still falling for her friend. He did nothing to stop her. The guilt and grief was almost too much for him to bear, but he knew not to shut it out anymore. He had to feel it. "So if I do tell you what direction M went, you better be going to find her to _apologize_ , to make up for all the shit you've put her through in the last couple of years. And I can't promise it will feel good, but that's humanity, and you need that back, Damon. You have to get your humanity back, or you'll be nothing but a monster. Just like Klaus."

"I'm so sorry, Rayna," Damon choked out. Rayna shook her head.

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me," Rayna sighed. "I should be apologizing, really."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was me," Rayna whispered. Damon stiffened, and he breathed deeply to calm himself. "The vampire I was hooking up with, he forced me to give names. I had no choice."

"What? What were you thinking?" Damon ran his hands through his hair. Clenching them into fists, he locked his eyes with Rayna's, and she started to shake. His gaze softened, wrapping her in a hug. "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." He clenched his jaw. "I can't hurt you, not anymore."

"He threatened to hurt me." She put her face in his shoulder, body wracked with sobs.

"What?"

"He'd hurt me unless I gave names," Rayna whispered. "Kol and Katherine said that if I didn't give names, he would kill everyone that I love or care about. Not just that, anyone who has ever come in contact with me. So I had no choice. He would have killed everyone in the rebellion whether I gave names or not."

Damon shuddered, appalled at how little he knew. "Katherine was a part of this?" Rayna nodded.

"Yes. The vamps took her too but she knew she was of little value to them, seeing that she wasn't as close to you as I was, me being your sister and all. So she seduced a vampire and got herself changed." Rayna started to cry. "She was the one who told Kol to hurt me. She was the one who helped Kol torture and threaten me."

"I'm so sorry, Rayna," Damon whispered softly, and Rayna pulled away.

"Like I said, you don't have to apologize to me," Rayna sighed heavily. "But you do have to apologize to M." Damon felt his heart sink in guilt, but he nodded before racing through the woods, following M's scent.

He ran for a while, which surprised him, he didn't think that M would have been able to make it so far without succumbing to her injuries. Damon felt another stab of pain at the fact that the injuries were caused by him. He was the one who nearly killed her.

* * *

He followed her scent and quickly found her in a cave. She was huddled against a wall, shaking and shivering, blood dripping down her neck. He entered and her head whipped towards him, eyes frightened.

"Please," She said weakly. "Damon, please don't."

"Shh, Shh," He soothed and walked up to her, but she quickly backed away from him.

"Leave me alone!" She hissed, swinging her arms at him. Damon grabbed them gently and put them down at her sides. "I don't want to be around you Damon."

He felt his heart break. "I'm so sorry," He whispered pathetically. "Please, can you forgive me?"

"No," She whispered, eyes crazed. "Please. Please don't hurt me."

"Can you ever forgive me?" Damon asked her. She shook her head vigourously, backing up to the wall. "Please M. Please." He took a step towards her but she started to shake.

"I'm scared of you, Damon!" She blurted out. "I'm scared of you okay? I'm scared of what you can do, that you'll hurt me again and I don't think I'll be able to overcome it. I hate that our friendship can disappear with a flip of a stupid humanity switch, and end up causing us pain. Causing me pain. And I can't deal with that."

"I won't hurt you again. I promise," He whispered, anguish filling his eyes. She looked at him sadly.

"I know you think you'll keep your promise, but I'm not too sure. I can't be sure. Because if you break your promise a third time, I don't think I can survive it." She must have seen his confused expression because she continued. "You know that time where Katherine and her gang were bullying me? Well, that's one time you broke your promise. You wouldn't be my friend except for a few exceptions, simply because of your reputation. And it hurt to know that you valued your image over me. Yes I know I broke it off, but do you really think only being friends in private is a good friendship? Friends are supposed to help each other when they're hurt or when they're put down. But I was only ever hurt in the public eye, so you were never there to help me."

"This time is different. I've learned from my mistakes." Damon pleaded; guilt was heavy as a rock in his stomach.

"But you haven't, because you broke your promises a second time," She said softly. She looked down for a while, consumed by her own thoughts, and when she looked him in the eyes, her expression was filled with an overwhelming mix of emotions. "I know it wasn't your decision. I know it was Genevieve's," M sobbed. "But you could have _defended_ me. You could have stopped those stupid rumours. Either way, you still left." M shook her head. "And god Damon, it hurt, losing my most important friend ever, and knowing it was because of some rumours. It shouldn't have hurt, I should have been stronger, but it did. The knowledge that I'd end up alone was the worst." When she was done talking, M buried her face in her hands, small shoulders wracked with sobs. His mouth was open with a lack of words, so he said the only words that he could think of.

"I'm sorry," He choked.

M smiled bitterly. "That doesn't matter, Damon. I'm so scared of you, because I know what you'll do when you're angry. I know that underneath your human side, there's the vampire side, the predatory, bloodthirsty side, and all it takes is a stupid _fucking_ switch for that side to take control." Tears rolled silently down her face, and Damon felt his heart break. "And it won't matter that we're friends, you'd still kill me."

"I wouldn't kill you," He whispered, moving towards her, arms open ready to hug her. But she cringed away from him, whether she did it subconsciously or not, the terror was enough to make the rest of Damon's heart shatter into a million pieces. She just ignored him and continued talking.

"I've cried so much today Damon. So much. I'm tired of it all. Tired of being hurt countless times by people that claim to love me. Just end the pain. Please Damon, just end it." M was down to a whisper and she collapsed in on herself, all the fight and the strength gone.

The million pieces that made up his heart somehow broke into a million more pieces, and the guilt caused him to cry along with her. Sitting down, he pulled her into his lap, meeting little resistance, and she leaned her head against his chest, gasping with quiet sobs, so quiet he almost couldn't hear it, and her cries shook her body like a light breeze shook a leaf.

"Will you ever forgive me?" Damon choked out. M bit her lip and looked down at her hands, a tear rolling down her cheek.

M looked up at him. "I have, Damon. I don't hate you. But I can't forget, because I still feel it. The pain." She touched him gently on the cheek, barely caressing him. "Though I have to thank you as well. Because kicking me out of the rebellion saved my life. After a year of not being in it, of not hanging around Rayna, well, everyone kind of forgot about me being a part of it. So, thank you."

"You don't have to-"

"I do, Damon. I do." M looked at him fiercely. "I still care about you. A lot. And I want to keep our friendship, to try and fix it. That can't happen if I refuse to forgive."

"Really?" Damon looked up, eyes shining brightly.

"Yes, really." M looked down at her feet. "Not right away. It will take a while to regain the trust in our friendship," She whispered, grabbing his hand. "But I'm willing to try if you are." She looked up at that, her eyes wide and hopeful. Damon smiled brightly down at her, nodding in agreement.

"Of course," He whispered.

"But if you ever hurt me again, I will turn my back on you. For the last time."

"I promise never to hurt you again, M. I love you." Damon came up to her, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm so sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have ever turned it off."

M shook her head. "Klaus compelled you. He made you turn it off. You're here now. That's all that matters."

"It was you," Damon whispered, and M looked up at him slowly. "You were my emotional trigger. _You_ , M." He took a deep breath. "When I woke up with Rayna, she talked to me, and we started talking about you. And I turned it back on. I came back. For you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."


End file.
